MovieChat Forums > Otoko-tachi no Yamato (2005) Discussion > Who to feel sorry for? Movie does a very...

Who to feel sorry for? Movie does a very good job making you think abt

posted 15 years ago by sourcerer2008
4 replies | jump to latest

Yeah, who to feel sorry for and who to be angry with...There is no doubt the Japanese committed incredible acts of brutality in WWII, and did not stop fighting even when they were clearly defeated (for the fiat and pride of the emperor?), thus wasting hundreds of thousands of lives. Seems like the Americans were just kicking the crap out of the Yamato at the end when she was defenseless, but why was she in the fight in the first place? What was accomplished? The Admiral knew that...
Feel sorry for the Japanese soldiers/sailors who were victims of this heartless mentality. I think the movie shows that very well. Uchida, Moriwaki, etc. were cast as good folks with lots of comraderie for their fellows, and a great sense of duty, even if the goal was suicidal and stupid.
I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

[–] sendspamhere-4 14 years ago

You can feel sorry for everyone who lost their lives in WW II.

However, you shouldn't feel too sorry for the Japanese Empire as a whole. Their expansionist policies in SE Asia, China, Korea, and Manchuria resulted in the deaths of of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. The Greater East-Asia Prosperity Sphere was dreamt up in order to establish Japanese dominance of the region.

Go do a Google search of 'The Rape of Nanking' and decide for yourself if they didn't deserve the whipping they got. When you bayonet babies and make sons rape their mothers while the family watches it leaves little in the way of feeling sorry for them.

[–] tad-32 13 years ago

Great movie.
Soldiers, marines, or sailors can't be blamed for following orders (with the exception of war crimes).
I was in San Diego last summer and saw that a contingent of the Japanese Navy was in port for exercises with the US Navy.
I was incredibly touched by the fact that the Japanese sailors out on leave were frequently greeted and chatted up by passers by.
Just goes to show you that underneath all the historical nationalism, racial bigotry, and cultural baggage, that we're all kin.

[–] HenryCW 13 years ago

It should be noted that this film was not in any sense an antiwar film. In fact, it was little short of viewing the Yamato's last voyage as a heroic defense of the Japanese homeland. An antiwar film would have emphasized that wars are bad and it is senseless to kill one another. I don't see any such message here. In the film, the young sailors marveled at the might of the Yamato (a killing machine). The one-eyed guy treasured a dagger given to him as a present by Admiral Yamamoto. The Japanese were shown as the victims. One Japanese woman lost her son at Shanghai - conveniently overlooking the fact that that was where Chinese civilians were massacred (though not as famous as the one at Nanking). Two of the principal characters lost the women they loved at Hiroshima (get the idea?). There was not the slightest hint of guilt feeling or remorse in having started a war of aggression and committed atrocities throughout Asia. From the film, one gets the idea that the only regret that the Japanese had about the War was that they lost.

[–] b-rad 13 years ago

Very good point. The same thought kept coming to me as I watched the movie, just as with "Das Boot". I could sympathize and appreciate the humanity of the individuals, but I kept thinking, "They wouldn't have to undergo this ordeal, if they hadn't started a war."