Prisoners of the Sun (1991)

An oppressive mood hangs over the small island of Ambon, Indonesia, where hundreds of Australian prisoners of war have been massacred by their Japanese guards. World War II is nearly over and two officers, Captain Cooper (Bryan Brown) and Lieutenant Corbett (Russell Crowe), must prosecute those Japanese officers responsible. The stories of sadistic torture and systematic executions in the ensuing trials sent shockwaves throughout the world. But, in an explosive showdown between Australian justice, American politics, and the Japanese warrior code, Bushido, will justice be found?

Gripping account of wartime atrocities.

This is a horrific account of wartime atrocities committed by Japanese troops during World War II. Anyone who sees this or knows the true story would not dispute the need to have used the Atomic Bomb. Even though it is dramatized, it does use people that really existed and something that actually happened to tell the story. The question posed is "why were some obviously guilty people" given a pass (for political exigencies) while an honest person caught up in the situation punished for following orders. Food for thought. June 22, 2008

In war often justice is not sweet

I am not a great fan of Australian movies but this one is good.

The story itself is of a small war crimes tribunal of major significance to Australians but no-one else. In February 1942, about 1000 soldiers mainly Australians were taken by the Japanese to a camp. When the camp was liberated in 1945, only 139 Allied POWs survived. The film focus on the trial after the war mainly from the prosecution trying to pursue a case the public demanded but the Allied leaders found inconvenient and messy. To do this they follow two events that occurred at the camp the mass killing of 300 Australian soldiers and execution of 4 Australian airmen. The tragedy at the end is the man who was executed by the court I think probably should not have been. Even the prosecution did not want him executed. It is a common problem that it is harder in law to convict the person who ordered the event then the one who did it.

The acting, I thought was good.

The big problem when filming such an event is few actors would let themselves become skeletons, which is what the survivors are. So it is going to lack realism and there is nothing anyone can do about that. Even big budget movies have this problem. Other then the filming was interesting mainly because it was done so cheaply. Check out the directors commentary, as he has some interesting comments on this topic.

January 6, 2008

Prisoners of the Sun

This was a heroic story about Australian prisoners of the Japanese. I had never thought about other countries having POW's but this opened my eyes that all of our most loyal allies also have their tragedies and triumphs. Good movie. September 16, 2007

One Soldier's Faith

There is one aspect of this movie that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere, and I am surprised because it really is central to the story. This movie shows only one Japanese soldier who was executed as a result of the trial. (There were actually six executed by the time the trials were over; 85 went free.) What is interesting about the man who was executed is that he was a Christian, a Roman Catholic. He had already gone home to Japan, and was free. We aren't told if he was a Christian before he went to the island where the prisoner of war camp was located, or if he converted while there, or after he went back home to Japan.

However, he knew that he had executed one of the Australian airmen by beheading so he voluntarily went back to stand trial and to testify. It is subtle, but very clear that he went back because of his Christian faith; that he had to tell the truth and face whatever the consequences may be. While all the other Japanese on trial were lying about the execution of over 300 Australians, this one Christian Japanese soldier told the truth. He could tell the truth because his faith was stronger than his human fear of death. That encouraged one or two others to start to tell the truth. The officer who actually ordered the killings was so angry he tore the cross necklace from this Christian Japanese's neck.

I won't give the outcome of the movie for those who don't know it. However, I will say that the movie ends with the camera focused on this Christian soldier's Rosary/crucifix held in his hands. I would say that without this aspect of the movie, it never would have been made. Who would want to watch a movie where 85 out of 91 brutal, heartless soldiers, killers, on trial went free because of their lying and the politics of the post-WWII period? October 30, 2006

cruel and sad

A real cruel and sad story. Shows the second worldwar in a realistic way. October 23, 2005

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