ACF 293: "Wings of Defeat" tonight on PBS

Writing about Wings of Defeat back in ACF 088 (March 17, 2008) I wrote:

Director [Risa] Morimoto has made a very special and touching film. It deserves to be seen by a large audience. Hopefully screenings such as the one tomorrow night at Japan Society will ultimately result in it having some sort of decent theatrical release and perhaps eventually being broadcast on Public Television.

Well it turns out that I was rather prophetic. Wings of Defeat will be shown tonight on New York's PBS Channel 13 at 10:30 PM. Check your local listings to see if your PBS station is also broadcasting this interesting and edifying documentary, which is absolutely well worth watching.

ACF 174: Free Screening of "Wings of Defeat" @ Columbia University

(Wings of Defeat poster credit: Edgewood Pictures)

Wings of Defeat / Tokko
2007, 89 minutes
Digital video, color, and black & white
In English and Japanese with English Subtitles

This fascinating documentary about kamikaze pilots who survived World War II will screen next Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 6:00 PM at Columbia University. A discussion with producer/director Risa Morimoto and producer/writer Linda Hoaglund will start at approximatley 8:00 PM, following the screening.

Ms. Morimoto, born and raised in New York, was surprised to learn that a beloved uncle, dead for several years, had been trained as a kamikaze. Having never questioned that they were fanatics, she was now faced with the puzzling question of why her good-natured uncle had wanted to become a kamikaze.

(Photo credit: The National Archives and Research Administration)

Her efforts to resolve this conflict led to interviews with family members, other surviving members of the Tokkotai (as the Special Attack Force pilots referred to themselves), and with survivors of the U.S.S. Drexler, a destroyer that perished in a kamikaze attack. Those interviews form the core of this extraordinary and fascinating documentary.

From it emerges a far different view of the Kamikaze than the conventional one. Here they are seen for the most part as young men who saw this as a duty that one had to fulfill, though they did so with no great enthusiasm.

Takeo Ueshima as a member of the Tokkotai

(Photo credit: Takeo Ueshima)

Wings of Defeat will be shown at the Altschul Auditorium, International Affairs Building, 4th Floor,118th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. Admission is free and no reservations are required

Campus map showing the location of the International Affairs building here.

This screening is part of the Soldiers and Soldiering in Twentieth-Century Japan lecture series sponsored by The Weatherhead East Asian Insititute.

My full review of Wings of Defeat appeared in AsianCineFest 088, Monday, March 17, 2008. I also wrote about it, and about Ms Hoaglund (who is most widely known as an outstanding translator of Japanese film dialogue) in the current issue of Asian Cult Cinema magazine, issue #60.

The Wings of Defeat website can be accessed by clicking here.

ACF 088: Wings of Defeat

Wings of Defeat poster credit: Edgewood Pictures

Wings of Defeat / Tokko
2007, 89 minutes
Digital video, color, and black & white
In English and Japanese with English Subtitles

In the fall of 1944, U.S. forces were advancing on the Philippines. General Douglas MacArthur, who had bungled the defense of the islands at the beginning of the war, was about to make good on his vow to return.

Japan's defeat seemed inevitable, but the militarists and Emperor Hirohito turned to a desperate policy that they hoped would lead to a negotiated peace. They sought to inflict unacceptably high losses on the American fleet . The means to achieve those losses was suicide pilots crashing their bomb-ladened planes into American vessels.

Termed Kamikaze, after the "Divine Wind" (most certainly a typhoon) that saved Japan from a Mongol invasion in the 13th century, they referred to themselves as Tokkotai, or Special Attack Forces. They came into being on October 20, 1944, and by the end of the war they had sunk about forty ships. Their overall effect on the course of the war was negligible. Approximately 4,000 of them had died. But some of them lived.

Photo credit: The National Archives and Research Administration

Risa Morimoto, born and raised in New York, was surprised to learn recently that a beloved uncle, dead for several years, had been trained as a Kamikaze. Having never questioned that they were fanatics, she was now faced with the puzzling question of why her good-natured uncle had wanted to become a Kamikaze. Her efforts to resolve this conflict led to interviews with family members, other surviving members of the Tokkotai, and with survivors of the U.S.S. Drexler, a destroyer that perished in a kamikaze attack.

Those interviews form the core of this extraordinary and fascinating documentary. From it emerges a far different view of the Kamikaze than the conventional one. Here they are seen for the most part as young men who saw this as a duty that one had to fulfill, though they did so with no great enthusiasm. Most interestingly, one of the survivors of the Drexler calmly acknowledges that Americans might well have done the same thing against Japan or Germany if necessary to defend the West or the East coast.

Takeo Ueshima as a member of the Tokkotai
(Photo credit: Takeo Ueshima)

While one cannot assume that those interviewed represent all Kamikaze, clearly the stereotypical view of them as nothing more than totally crazed fanatics, veritable demons, can no longer by accepted. The film does a remarkable job of humanizing at least some of the Kamikaze. At the same time it sheds considerable light on the mindset of the Japanese populace during the war years. It also makes clear how the attitude of the populace was shaped by the militarists and the Emperor.

One of the high points of the film, at least for me, was listening to a former pilot named Nakajima refer to Hirohito as "that Emperor," his voice practically dripping with disdain. Nakajima also epitomized the inner conflict felt by many of those who survived. Apologizing to those who died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he acknowledges that with the near total destruction of those two cities, he knew the war would end soon and realized "Now I can live."

Another touching revelation was that the pilots flew off with little dolls attached to their flight uniforms. Made by women and girls, the dolls symbolized the thought "Take me with you."

Wings of Defeat will be shown at Japan Society tomorrow, Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 8:00 pm. Preceding the film will be a reception at which director/producer Morimoto and writer/producer Linda Hoaglund will be present. Two former Kamikaze pilots featured in the film, Takehiko Ena (age 84) and Takeo Ueshima (85), and Fred Mitchell (83), a U.S.S. Drexler survivor, will be special guests. A Q&A session and discussion will follow the screening.

Director Morimoto has made a very special and touching film. It deserves to be seen by a large audience. Hopefully screenings such as the one tomorrow night at Japan Society will ultimately result in it having some sort of decent theatrical release and perhaps eventually being broadcast on Public Television.

In the meanwhile, DVDs of Wings of Defeat and Wings of Defeat: Another Journey, a 40 minute follow-up film about U.S. veterans going to Japan to meet and reconcile with former Kamikaze pilots, are available separately or together for purchase or rental. Interested universities, institutions, public libraries, and non-profit groups should go to http://www.wingsofdefeat.com/.

For further information about Tuesday's screening at Japan Society, click here.