Oba The Last Samurai came out in Japanese theaters in February of this year. It is the true story of Captain Oba and his men who fight on in the island of Saipan after the Emperor had surrendered. It has a large Japanese cast starring Yutaka Takenouchi as Captain Oba, Toshiaki Karasawa as Kesamatsu Horiuchi, Mao Inoue as Chieko Aono. It also has two notable American actors Daniel Baldwin and veteran actor Treat Williams. I have not found a good english subtitled version yet but from what I can see from the available trailers this looks heavy. It has been said this film told from the Japanese side captures the War's end in graphic detail and the deep emotional punch you can expect from Japanese films depecting the War in the Pacific. If anyone comes across a source for a good subtitled copy please let us know. Arigatou!
“American Mishima” is the work of Louis Rosas, the son of Mexican Immigrants, whose father served in Vietnam for the US Army and who grew up on glamorized war films and military aviation in the sleepy seaside plains of Oxnard, Calif. With an early fascination of the Second World War embedded in his young mind during the post-Vietnam era, it was his exposure to Akira Kurosawa's samurai epic Ran (Toho, 1985) that changed his views of war while creating a lasting impression of Japanese culture and history. Further inspired by the works of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, Rosas would go on to study Japanese language and swordsmanship, which led him to the practice of Shingon Buddhism and Shinto. Rosas is also a former student of Shinkendo, the ideal and practice of the samurai code of Bushido in the modern world, which helped shape the creative force that is “American Mishima.”
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