Reuters reports on Shintaro Ishihara’s Kamikaze Film +The film’s Trailer (Video)
A new report by Reuters gives us some English language details on Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara’s new film that honors the kamikaze pilots who died in the final days of the Pacific War:
“I Go To Die For You”, set to be released in Japan in May, is something of a dream come true for 74-year-old nationalist writer-turned-politician Shintaro Ishihara, who waited years for financing to get his script produced.
Ishihara, widely tipped to win his third term as Tokyo governor in April, based the film on interviews with Tome Torihama, who ran a restaurant close to Chiran air base on the southernmost main island of Kyushu, where the young men were trained.
The kindly Torihama, played in the film by well-known actress Keiko Kishi, became a mother figure for many of the trainees, most of whom were still in their teens or early twenties when they were sent to their deaths.
Some entrusted her with farewell letters to be given to their families, while one promised to return to her restaurant as a firefly after his death.
“We can’t stop them from going. We can’t comfort them. All we can do is pray,” Torihama says in the film.
When she died in 1992, Ishihara called for Torihama to be publicly honoured, but the government spurned the idea, inspiring him to push ahead with a movie based on her memories.
“From her I heard the true voices of the ‘special attack’ forces,” Ishihara says in a pamphlet issued with the film. “I want to leave a record of the beauty of the Japanese people who lived through brutal times.”
Sound interesting? Here’s one of the trailers for the film, taken from its official website:
Highlights from the trailer:
- A message from Ishihara at the beginning similar to the “record of beauty” statement in the Reuters article
- A young pilot asking an old woman (probably Torihara) that he will give her the 30 years of his life he won’t be able to live.
- A little boy asking his kamikaze pilot brother, “Big brother, if you die, will Japan win?”
- A statement by the old woman about how all the young men were spendid people
It seems a bit, dare I say, melodramatic, but I’ll probably end up renting the film when it comes out on DVD. I’m not a fan of Ishihara, but I am interested in seeing Ishihara’s idealized view of the pilots. I’m also wondering how it will stand up to similar films, such as The Winds of God and Otokotachi no Yamato when it comes to nostalgic interpretations of the war.
Is anyone out there excited about this film?
