Americas 250th Birthday Cinemathon #43: Pearl Harbor

We finally get to World War II, and we start with one of the more lambasted historical epics. Before we get into the movie itself, here’s a brief historical overview of Pearl Harbor. The United States, despite President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s desire to get involved, wanted to stay out of the large wars that had broken out in Europe and China during the late 1930s. By 1941, however, the nation was already starting to get entangled. For example, the US was appalled by the horrific atrocities Japan was committing in China, so it decided to cut off oil exports. Needing oil to continue its war in China, the Japanese decided to strike at the American and European colonial powers in a rapid, surprise onslaught. The date of the attack was December 7, 1941 (December 8 if you were in Asia).

Pearl Harbor is considered a great example of a bad movie, though also quite watchable for the most part. Much of the blame for it has been placed on the director Michael Bay, who’s known for many really stupid but financially successful films. However, while Bay does share some blame, it should be noted that Buena Vista Pictures (this is a Disney movie!) had a much bigger say in how Pearl Harbor turned out. Bay had originally wanted an R-rated update on Tora, Tora, Tora (1970), the highly regarded near-documentary on the famous Pearl Harbor attack, taking advantage of CGI and other modern technical innovations.

The studio had other ideas. James Cameron’s historical disaster epic Titanic had just made box-office and Oscar history. Since Pearl Harbor was also a great historical disaster (and one that involved ships, no less), Michael Bay was told to make something similar, a three-hour romance set amid the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Movie Review: Last Samurai (2003)

 Last Samurai, directed by Edward Zwick, is inspired by real historical events in 19th Century Japan. Japan has recently opened up to the outside world and is rapidly modernizing. In order to accomplish this successfully, the Meiji government brings in many foreign advisors to build them up. The main character is Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), who comes to Japan to train its army. He is also expected to help lead it against the titular Last Samurai, rebellious warriors under Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) who believe that Japan's rapid modernization has enabled corrupt and greedy individuals to gain power over the Emperor at the people's expense. Impressed by Algren's ferocity and courage, Katsumoto has him taken prisoner rather than killed after a major defeat for the government. Algren, suffering from personal demons, becomes fascinated by the samurai and finds renewed purpose by helping them instead. It's a bit like Dances with Wolves.

This movie is heavily inaccurate, yet it's awesome and I recommend watching it. It's inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, in which incorruptible samurai Saigo Takamori led a revolution. It also combines elements with the Boshin War (1868-1869). Katsumoto, the coolest characters thanks to Watanabe's performance, is based on Saigo. Like the character in the film, Saigo felt that the Meiji government was moving too fast, and that this enabled many to enrich themselves at the expense of good governance. He and other samurai were also distressed by the loss of privileges they once held, such as guaranteed rice payments and the right to carry swords anywhere. The movie's inspired version on the other hand is more purely conservative, with him and his followers effectively maintaining a pre-modern lifestyle. Thus their war with the government in the film borrows elements from the Boshin War, in which the more conservative shogunate warred with the Meiji faction. Even then the Shogunate employed modern weapons in its armies. Only politically and culturally was it old-fashioned.