James Boren wrote:
Last night I saw "Letters from Iwo Jima". I can't get it out of my
mind. It was one of the most sobering and tragic movies I've ever
Having not yet seen the trailer or synopsis, I have only some foggy
idea of the movie. It sounds very promising. It's any uncommon, but
not totally novel theme. If I am not totally mistaken, it questions
the basic concept of "glory" or honor/valor/chivalry. One example of
this line of thought is JRR Tolkien's The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
Beorhthelm's Son.
Strangely, the internet doesn't have much to offer on this important
poem, which goes somewhat to prove my point at the end...
But before I go off, maybe I should catch the movie myself and see if
there's really any comparison between Iwo Jima and Beorhtnoth.
seen. War is a central of aspect of Gundam. In fact, aren't the
asteroid battles in first Gundam, at Solomon and A Bau A Qu modeled
on the island hopping campaigns in the Pacific war? But comparing
Hah, I never thought of that before, but there's indeed some similarity...
But Japan was losing on both fronts... the mainland campaign was being
pushed back. The occupation armies were fragmented and forced to sit
tight inside strongholds in the major cities, while the resistance
(mainly the CCP) effectively ruled most of the land area and
population, and importantly, impeded Japanese movement between the
strongholds. (hey doesn't that sound exactly like that certain ongoing
war?)
Hey how about this, China was to Japan what Earth (esp. Odessa) was to
Zeon in OYW. Japan invaded China in a shock and awe campaign (esp.
the bombing of Shanghai had many similarity to Op. British) but didn't
achieve the complete victory as planned. But partially occupation
allowed Japan to obtain the raw materials for a drawn-out war. But
slowly and painfully, China pushed the invaders out.
By contrast the Pacific islands had nearly zero economic values. They
were useful only as perching spots for bombers and ships. The
invasion of Japan itself didn't come from mainland China (Earth), but
has to come on route by the islands (Solomon etc). Ok, it's not a
perfect parallel, but kind of interesting to think about. Most likely
Tomino didn't consciously mirror Zeon's defeat on Japan's, but the
events of 34 years ago might have been at work subconsciously?
Gundam to what I saw in that movie...it makes Gundam seem so
ridiculous, perhaps even insulting. God, that movie really got into
my head.
I'm developing a pretty high expectation of this movie now. I hope
you didn't ruin it for me ;)
But even if I like the movie, I still think it won't achieve the
result one may hope for. There have always been great books and films
that "really got into my head" or someone's head. But it's always a
case of peaching to the converted. The film makes you think because
you are already the thinking type. The kind of people who need to
change their thinking pattern are sadly immune from the mental
challenge issued from films like Iwo Jima. Gundam is actually one of
the saddest examples of this: it managed to reach a wide audience but
a large portion of that audience often forget, sometimes even reject,
the moral nuisance that is so central to most Gundam stories.
Likewise, many other _good_ stories that also achieved commercial
success recently had their (often unsubtle) moral theme ignored by the
wide audience. I am not talking about "art house" fares like American
Beauty. I am talking about the likes of LOTR, Star Wars prequels,
X-Men, V for Vendetta, Borat etc.
When wife and I saw V for Vendetta we were surprised that there were
no riots against Wachowski brothers, Natalie Portman etc. Don't they
deserve at least a Dixie Chicks treatment? But then we realize it's
not necessary, the audience are quite ready to enjoy the movie without
accepting or rejecting the film's message. Filmmakers can make subtle
and unsubtle messages all they want, the audience can happily accept
the film as it is and disconnect the message from their own lives and
experiences. Hurray Freedom of Speech.
Ok... hmmm I hope I am not barking up the wrong tree... need to see the film :P
--
Dr. Core
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