Bloodtype Online
For the best of the Horror/Cult/Exploitation film experience
Battle of Okinawa (1971)
In the Fall of 1942, the United States launched a Fleet of War ships to attack and take over the island of Guadalcanal. This marked the US Military counter offensive in the Pacific. Ordered to defend Guadalcanal at all cost, the Japanese fought for six long months before falling at the hands of the Americans. The US took several other small islands in Japans Archipelago and was expected to assault the island of Okinawa. Okinawa was japans " Home Base"
Japan's army was stretched so thin that it didn’t have much of a defense for Okinawa, so women, children, and all other civilians were called upon to defend it to the death. Losing a battle was out of the question so in-order to prevent being dishonored , the Japanese committed suicide.
Director Kihachi Okamoto shows us the this gruesome battle through the eyes of the Japanese. He does so without distorting the truth or glorifying the war. Okamoto allows us to see a side of this war that our American Films don’t. He shows us the desperateness of the Japanese soldiers and civilians not to be taken prisoner. Some soldiers charged directly into machine gun fire or into the path of American tanks. Some knelt down and impelled themselves with their sword(ceremony style). And some pull the pin on a grenade and huddled around it. Families were even in on the action. One scene that sticks out to me is with a father and his child. The child (3 or 4 y/o) is frightened and crying and the father slits his throat before turning the blade on himself ( murder suicide).
Battle of Okinawa is mostly in color but has some stock footage that is in black and white. The film is also narrated at times in Japanese. DVD extras include: image gallery, program notes, and theatrical trailer. If you are looking for a non-bias, historically accurate war film then Battle of Okinawa is one of my recommendations.
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-Jim Cain
