After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the emperor of Japan (Takatarô Kataoka) was forced to surrender to the United States. From that point on the United States and the Allied forces supreme commander General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) was entrusted with the responsibility of rebuilding Japan.
His first objective, with the help of General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox), was to locate and identify the Japanese threats still left on the island. With Japan in ruins and the strong support from its people towards their emperor, General Fellers needed to find a way to take away the war’s responsibility from the emperor and find out who really was responsible for the acts of war by Japan.
Prior to the war General Fellers had ties to this great nation, his relationship with Aya Shimada (Eriko Hatsune) whom he met at college brings him to Japan approximately one year prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There he meets her uncle General Kajima (Toshiyuki Nishida) where he begins to understand the Japanese culture and what economic hardships they were currently facing. When the Japanese force all foreigners to leave the country he is forced to leave her.
With help from his appointed Japanese interpreter and assistant Takahashi (Masayoshi Haneda), General Fellers tries to locate Aya with hopes she survived the devastation brought upon Japan. With having to complete the task brought to him by General MacArthur and going through the emotional hardships placed upon him with the search for his love, he must keep control of his tasks to help save this once great nation.
Director Peter Webber does an excellent job bringing these historical events to the big screen. The special effects used to show what Japan looked like after the peace treaty was spectacular and realistic. His attention to details throughout the film was fantastic and believable. He did an excellent job bringing all the facts together and portraying this really tough time in our history.
The historical events were performed very well and really brought to life what our two nations had to go through to try and restore Japan. Along with the excellent special effects and historical film it really brought this story to life. I would recommend this film as an excellent visual aid for all high school and college students studying this time period of our history.
Final Grade: I give this an A for its excellent storyline and historical facts.
Cast: Matthew Fox, Tommy Lee Jones, Eriko Hatsune, Toshiyuki Nishida, and Masayoshi Haneda
Director: Peter Webber
Writer: Vera Blasi (screenplay), David Klass (screenplay), and Shiro Okamoto (book)
Runtime: 108 minutes (1 hour and 48 minutes)
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for violent content, brief strong language and smoking (historical).
Genre: Drama, War, History
Production Company: Lionsgate, and Roadside Attractions.
Release Date: March 8th, 2013
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