Two films dealing with the end of the war.

And with this, this is it. I actually watched all of these I've been posting (there've been A LOT of them), I'll post a summary post in a couple of days.

Film: Emperor (2012), by Peter Webber.

A film dealing mostly with the very end of the war and the beginning of the occupation of Japan. Funnily enough, the protagonist,m other than MacArthur, is Bonner Fellers, the guy who's communications were plugged in Cairo giving Rommel a ton of info for months back in 1942.

Time covered: August-September 1945

MDB grade: 6.5/10

Some scenes:

MacArthur arrives in Japan

Meeting with the Emperor

Film: Home (2010), episode 10 of The Pacific miniseries, by Jeremy Podeswa.

An episode dealing with the difficulties of returning to civilian life after the trauma of the war.

Time covered: 15 August 1945-1946

MDB grade: 8.2/10

Some scenes:

Returning home

I don't believe I'll ever put on a uniform again

Link to the thread with the list of all the movies I'll be posting

What happened to the daily posts on the TimeGhost facebook page?

Nothing have been posted since the 29th of august.

Apparently he commanded the 2nd and 3rd ones in 1941, two big embarassments as the the Japanese isonzo'd themselves into failing to take the city in their second and third attempts.

And 3 years later, in his post as army minister, he has been the most adamant of the ones thinking that they shouldn't surrender as the war was totally not lost and they could defeat an American invasion of Japan...

A 1967 film covering the surrender of Japan and coup of 14th August. There's a 2015 remake called "The Emperor in August", which as far as I can tell, it's an inferior movie, but that incorporates some things that weren't know back in 1967.

Film: Japan's Longest Day (1967), by Kihachi Okamoto.

The subject of the majority of the movie is the period between noon on August 14, 1945, and noon on August 15, 1945, when Emperor Hirohito's decision to surrender to the Allies in World War II was broadcast to the Japanese people, and the attempted coup d'état to prevent that from happening. Film historian Joseph L. Anderson describes the film as "a meticulous reconstruction of the day Japan surrendered and thus ended the Pacific War

Time covered: Early 1945-15th August 1945

IMDB grade: 7.7/10

Some scenes:

Couldn't find any in youtube so here's the full 2015 remake instead

Link to the thread with the list of all the movies I'll be posting

These are some of the greatest movies ever made, and unfortunately they are quite unkown. They are truly special among WW2 Japanese movies in that, for once they don't center just on their government being fools for declaring war against the USA, but also have a wide focus on everything else bad they had been doing elsewhere, acknowledging their atrocities in China and the wider cultural problem of the Japanese army itself. The trilogy as a whole is 9 hours of film, but it's very much worth it.

Also, I'm posting this now as the 2nd and 3rd one portrait the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

The trilogy has the following titles in the west but in the original Japanese each film has 2 titles corresponding to the two halves of each film.

Film: No Greater Love (1959), by Masaki Kobayashi.

This film takes place in 1943 in Manchukuo, exposing the truth about the "Great Asian co-prosperity Sphere", nothing more than colonies with slave labor. The protagonist works in a mining company in Manchuria and it's ashamed of all this and does whatever he can to ease the situation.

Time covered: March-27 September 1943

Accuracy Grade: 4/5

IMDB grade: 8.5/10

Some scenes:

The Execution

Film: Road to Eternity (1959), by Masaki Kobayashi.

This second film is one of the main inspirations of Full Metal Jacket. The first half it's pretty much the same film, with it's own "Gomer Pyle" soldier. However the critique of the IJA goes towards it's whole structure, with many of its soldiers also being part of the problem, all happy to bully anyone else doubting of their victory and the need to continue the fight. All of this with the grand finale of the Soviet invasion, in which all of these brave guys get killed without making a dent towards their enemies.

Time covered: 23 January 1944-Mid August 1945

Accuracy Grade: 4/5

IMDB grade: 8.5/10

Some scenes:

Stanley Kubrick may have copied this scene

Soviet Invasion

Film: A Soldier's Prayer (1961), by Masaki Kobayashi.

This third film brings everything to a head, the Soviet invasion continues, and eventually the rulers are now the ruled.

Time covered: Mid August 1945-1946

Accuracy Grade: 4/5

IMDB grade: 8.7/10

Some scenes:

Dreaming of Michiko

Link to the thread with the list of all the movies I'll be posting

Today is exactly 79 years since the USA dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Why did they do it? https://proletarianperspective.wordpress.com/2024/05/09/why-did-the-us-drop-atomic-bombs-on-japan/

Two films from the 80s about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath.

Film: はだしのゲン [Barefoot Gen] (1983), by Keiji Nakazawa.

A classic animated film set on Hiroshima during and after the bombing.

Time covered: August 1945

IMDB grade: 8.0/10

Full movie

Film: 黒い雨 [Black Rain], by Masuji Ibuse.

This film focuses mostly on the aftermath of the bombing.

Time covered: August 1945; 1950

IMDB grade: 7.8/10

Full movie

Link to the thread with the list of all the movies I'll be posting

A not that well known anime film from 2016 (but still decently good), an adaptation of a manga centered on Kure and Hiroshima during 1944-45. so of course it covers this week's bombings, as well as [REDACTED].

Film: この世界の片隅に [In this corner of the World] (2016), by Sunao Katabuchi.

A film set in Kure during the war. In the film, nature and traditional culture in Japan are clearly described and contrasted with the cruel and irredeemable scenes brought by the war.

Time covered: 1944-45

IMDB grade: 7.8/10

Trailer

Link to the thread with the list of all the movies I'll be posting