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Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Convicting and Hanging Japanese War Criminals, Again

1:04 PM

Even though there was still that perpetual layer of grimy sweat between me and the thick 1940's double-breasted wool suit I'd been roasting in alive for a month, and there was a huge motion picture camera arduously, meticulously placed only inches above me, when I circled the ornate "Yes" on the "Death Penalty ballot" and then dropped it though a slot into a plain wooden box, it felt good.

It felt good every time I did it--every take of the multiple points of view the director shot of the climactic scene of the movie I'd been acting in for more than a month. We finally wrapped this past weekend in Tianjin, where we'd been shooting for a week, ending it much like we had begun, with almost 24 straight hours on set.

What movie, pray tell? "The International Military Tribunal for the Far East" is the movie's literal English language translation. It is a dramatic, extremely accurate re-telling of one of the last untold stories of World War Two.

Almost everyone knows something about the trial of the top Nazis at Nuremberg, Germany. And a lot of people know at least something about the "14 Class-A Japanese War Criminals" that Prime Minister Koizumi is so intent on honoring each year by visiting their burial site. But almost no one can tell you how they came to be adjudicated as "war criminals."

That happened through the process of a two-year trial that began in Tokyo in 1946. The Allied High Command brought 28 of the top Japanese political and military leaders to trial before a tribunal of 11 judges chosen from 11 Allied countries upon whom Japan had perpetrated "a war of aggression" in violation of international law to which it was a signatory.

At the invitation of General Douglas MacArthur, judges came from Australia, China, America, England, Russia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Holland, India, and the Philippines, to hear the evidence and first decide guilt or innocence, then life or death.

While the outcome is known, how it was arrived at is a riveting story. One should not predict much about a film before it's been edited, but not only will this movie royally piss off Japan, if post-production doesn't destroy it, it will move people every where. Although it is an historical film, it is also a very human film.

The international confluence on the set was amazing. The film will be released with four languages spoken naturally within it: Chinese, English, Japanese and some Russian, with subtitles. And all of those languages could be heard on the set--but English was not a prominent one, I can surely attest to that. Except for a few actors brought in from Japan, two from America, and a handful of expats, this movie set, which sometimes consisted of two to three hundred people, was completely Chinese.

We few foreigners were in a totally Chinese environment. There was only one English language "translator" for the whole movie company. Never have I regretted my difficulties in learning Chinese more; but never have I felt as close to China as I have in these past several weeks.

I am physically and mentally exhausted--drained bone dry, actually--from weeks shooting under intense movie lights in the middle of a June heat wave. I have slept a great deal since returning from Tianjin.

I dug into weeks-old e-mail only yesterday, and made a dent. I have a great deal of editing and posting to do for WOW. And I have my own writing deadlines that I'm behind on.

But I will never regret my return to acting for this film. Some folks need to remember things. Of course, a lot of other folks just like a well-told story. We shall see if our work is so judged.

Oh, did I mention that they want to release the film in a month or so! They want it to be a part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of Victory over Japan Day (August 15 in China, August 14 in America). And be in full distribution in September.

Yeah. That explains some of the crazily scheduled, around-the-clock shootings, and at least some of the many absolutely unbelievable things that happened daily during the making of this movie--of which I will write more about in time.

Anyway, it's over; I'm still mostly healthy. And it was one hell of a hoot to do!

1:04 PM / Editor / permalink 5 comments

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5 Comments:

wow,you were so busy in June.it was valuable experienece that you were shot under movie lights.
Japanese Prime MInister Koizui's visits to Tokyo's Yasakuni Shrine always provoke people's anger.no matter how they distort history in their text books, they can't change the truth.I hope that Japan has some charm left to do things differently for its future.
PS: I am preparing to apply visa, if everything goes well i will be in Lancaster in Sep. :)
Take care

Shirley

By Shirley, at 12:42 PM

I'm sure it'll be an interesting movie, interesting to see what went on here after the war, other than what the textbooks tell us.

Congrats on getting the part. Hope the rushed schedule doesn't hurt it any, i.e. the new War of the Worlds movie.

By Eric Jones, at 7:46 AM

Who is stars in this movie? Was this the movie that was shot in Beijing?

By Anonymous, at 1:56 AM

Is this the movie starring Zhu Xiao Tian (F4) and Lin Xi Lei?

By Anonymous, at 6:50 PM

Interesting idea for a film - shame there's not more information about it. For example, is it a straight "handing out justice" kinda thing, or does it explore whether some of the accused really were guilty or not. I felt "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence" made a really interesting point about that.

Though I must admit I think shirely was a bit hysterical. Japan has apologised more times than I can count, as well as giving a heck of a lot of compensation out.

By Raj, at 2:22 AM