Tora! Tora! Tora! is a war film with a difference. From story structure, to character development, to production methods, in these ways and more it sets itself apart in its decisions to accurately portray both sides of the lead-up to the devastating attack on the US Navy's Pacific Fleet stationed in Hawaii. The title comes from the Japanese code word that was sent from the fighters back to their own command to confirm that complete surprise had been achieved. The film stars Jason Robards, Martin Balsam and So Yamamura.
"It all looks good on paper. But for God's sake....that's not a paper fleet out there!"
From the outset the film claims that "All of the events and characters are depicted to historical fact", and with the level of military muck-ups, diplomatic dog-fighting and political pissing contests. it's not easy to dismiss that claim. Summarising the narrative of this film is a difficult task as this is a movie that has no protagonist and the plot can too easily be stripped back to following the lead-up to the attack, and little else. But within that are many elements of espionage, paranoia and delusion. After over 90 minutes of build-up the film climaxes with a stunningly photographed action-disaster sequence of the December 7th attack.
Produced as a joint American-Japanese venture in order to accurately portray the conflict from both perspectives, the film was intended to be a revisionists accounting of the infamous moment as first proposed by former Twentieth Century Fox executive, Daryl Zanuck. The film itself was split into two developments divided by country. Legendary director Akira Kurosawa was originally attached as the director of the Japanese side, spending two years assisting in developing the film. He lasted two weeks into the project before getting himself fired, after learning that David Lean would not be the director of the American segments, a condition which was important to Kurosawa. In his stead, Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fukasaku directed the Japanese segments, and Richard Fleischer the American. Fukasaku is most remembered for the Battle Without Honour or Humanity series and the Battle Royale films. Masuda for his 82 films that broke Japanese box office records, and Fleischer for Soylent Green, Fantastic Voyage. and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Less than one minute of the final cut contains Kurosawa's footage. Shockingly, this production took four years of development but its budget was only $25 million dollars. The film was a hit in Japan but a miss in the US.
The film's climax is really the stand-out point of the film, as well over 30 minutes of destruction and dog-fighting should be. It contains beautiful high-altitude cinematography, explosive set pieces, dozens of extras, stuntmen and real US military personanel, actual plane and ship replicas and mock-ups exploding, crashing and battling. Many of the stunts performed in this sequence are breathtaking and undeniably in presence in their execution and presentation.
Truth be told, Tora! Tora! Tora! is a mostly dry film, filled with detailed political and military machinations. The only real emotional connections come from the audiences own historical knowledge, the only real tension from the approaching date and time of the attack. In this regard, Michael Bay's Pearl Harbour succeeds in it's aims to create an emotional connect with characters within the event rather than the event itself. And that's mainly because the event is so brilliantly captured that it is amazing, instead of merely horrific.The editing at times can cause confusion, as one must keep track of over a dozen people who appear in similar looking rooms in Hawaii and Washington, as well as Tokyo and the Pacific. Not many films can cause such confusion through timezones and a sore lack of supplemental establishing shots. Tora! Tora! Tora! is a war film for those with an eye for historical fact over entertainment and art, though the finale is unmissable.
No comments:
Post a Comment