W-AB movies [part 1]

my own movie term [W-AB] stands for war-or-atomic bombing theme. any kind of war action movies supposedly not my favorite genre. i dunno why. maybe because i always being skeptical about this.. well you know, certain directors/writers always proudly making themselves superhero and looked down on other opponents
[same thing how i hate certain movie makers being biased by putting my people as terrorist].

~ eh, hello.. remember words from West Wing second season series? .: terrorism actually exists in any religions, races and countries :: so please never ever make some kind of super-low-minded accuses.

in my home country, i watched "SARJAN HASSAN", a 1958 black-and-white movie  [one year released after our independence] which set in Singapore-Malaya during Japanese-British war period which considered our local-made recognized patriotic movie. it was not fully completed under the late Lamberto Avellana [a famous Filipino movie and stage director]. so the rest of task was took over by late P. Ramlee. the screenplay was wrote by Ralph Modder and P.Ramlee. Ralph Modder a veteran journalist, novelist and screen writer who was born in malaysia and grew up in singapore.

the one and only malay war movie that i respect most is "BUKIT KEPONG". [repeat: the ONE and ONLY in my ever life!]. Bukit Kepong was a 1981 movie which based on a true-story that happened at bukit kepong,  muar, johore [muar johore is my parents' hometown anyway]. the setting time was during year 1950 [exactly the same year of my both parents were born]. after Japanese invasion broke down [the withdrawal of WWII because of hiroshima-nagasaki bombing incident], British took over Malaya again.. but then the Malayan Communists Party started their guerrilla attacks to force British out of Malaya. however, those bandits also robbing, assaulting and killing civilians. it's 'black days - malayan emergency' for us. i remember my late grandpa's words... "it's still okay with British or Japanese.. but Communist.. that's the most scariest period in my life". ... in someway, thanx God, both my parents were born and grew up safely :)

The story based on the true, tragic incident that happened surrounding a small police station, located on isolated countryside river banks area on 23 february 1950. not just isolated, but also lack of facilities  and equipment - shortage of guns, mortar or explosive supply, old wooden buildings, no electricity and telecommunication system, the only transportation was a small river boat etc. [sigh] yeah, our 50s era wasn't really something and rural area still less developed. during the bloody incident on that day, a fierce attack came from 200 communists towards 25 local policemen  (can you imagine 200 vs 25!) and their family members. almost all  the polices were killed including police chief Sergeant  Jamil and several women and children were executed or burned to death. the police station, the barracks and married quarters were all ablaze.

although with all the well-planned strategy by the communists, it was still not an easy battle for them, as it took five hours to break in. the communists also were shocked with a sudden alarm from the tenacity side - when the two police wives fired the guns and continued fighting bravely after their husbands were shot dead. with all the pressure and threats, the defenders were refused to surrender and fought to the last man. ..... at the same time, reinforcement groups from nearby villagers came but failed to give their aid. they were halfway stopped after being ambushed by the communists; just about 500 meters from the police station. numbers of villager guards were shot down - wounded or killed. ..... the battle of Bukit Kepong was starting before dawn around 4.15 am, but with the help of survived villagers (from the ambush at Muar river banks), the news was received by another nearby station only at 10 am.

Bukit Kepong - the one and only movie that affected my emotions for certain time. i watched this when i was still kid. and it's haunted me. i totally lost appetite and lack of sleep because of those imaginary of fire blazes, explosions, the screaming and the crying from the children that kept remaining in my mind. ..... despite to the limitation of film technology, this movie was succeed in delivering the message of tragedy because of the strong, powerful and honest acting from all the casts and extras... especially those pure, innocent small kids who knew nothing about what is star, popularity or glamor.

the famous shout by the late chief Sergeant Jamil to the opponent - "We, the policemen, would never ever surrender. Let us die here. Bukit Kepong (Kepong Hill) would be our burial ground." ... ironically, 'kepong' is the old version of malay word, means 'surrounded'. who would thought that time, the surrounded hill would be surrounded by enemy on one fine dawn.

from the interview of NST with the director tan sri jins shamsuddin [who was holding the role play as Serg. Jamil],  the movie was the most expensive malay film at that time (1980) which cost around RM1.3 million. and it took about four months filming and involving hundreds of people at the set. the director was assured that everything in this movie was 98 percent accurate with the real case. it was 1980s, deshou. they were only using three cameras and no CG or whatever kinds of special advanced effects used. probably, it was not dramatic like other international action movies. but at least it was made in pure-natural-frank-and-humble way. nevertheless, up to now.. there are no local stuff that could beat this. yappari, with all the modernization after 51th years of independence, our movie industry nowadays ne, time to time smoothly goes... backward! one of our high level key performance index achievement, i must say.

my notes on Bukit Kepong clips:
i realized there were some small parts in those clips above were edited [not uploader's fault i guess]. the clips were a bit dark visual. long ago, i watch the original play on tv screen.. it was a clear visual [and the duration also a bit longer] which was why i remember every details of expression vividly. that's the beginning of my childhood nightmare. certain details perhaps being done with some morale-political consideration and sensitivity - we're multi-religion-cultural-ethnic people after all. if they showed how a small kid being executed, i guess my nightmare would be worst. at this moment, i try to understand few things that i never thought before. they were just a small group of policemen, right. unlike the soldiers [royal regiment battalion], their movement and sources were limited. soldiers could move  around themselves -  attack, defend or hide in the jungle. but policemen need to defend their station. the weight of responsibilities they had to carry - villagers (around), friends (at the front) and families (at the back). they had to protect all of them at the same time. not even chance they could get out from that place (sending news and  asking aid), not even one inch that those villager guards could move forward for a support. what a serious battle of this 200:25. since 16th century, johore considered one of the modern states [in our definition]. so imagine what kinds of other undeveloped states of Malaya would be like during that time. i guess i could understand why my late grandpa [mother 's side] was so scared. he's got a comfortable job as a high-rank school educator during British time and warehouse clerk during Nippon time... [i have no intention to brag] but frankly, my late grandpa was well-known among local veterans as a smart, good personality, trustworthy person - admired by both British and Japanese administrators.] i always know he helped people around even during his difficult life-time. but what if  a bunch of malay-chinese communists couldn't hold their grudge and find him for revenge for being 'traitor'. during this time, i wonder how he did protect his pregnant wife (grandma + unborn mom), his chinese adopted chibi (small) sister, his parents and family in-laws. huuu, kowaii na ~ scary! demo, on the other hands... talking bits n pieces about life of my important persons would be a good reflection for myself. it's hard to be perfect, but whatever time left, whatever pain .. i'll do my best to survive in my own battle ...  ~ emm, may i cry now [smiling].               

as far as i remember.....

the first and the earliest war movie i've ever watch was "TORA! TORA! TORA!". i can't remember how old i was that time, probably too young to understand the definition of war. i couldn't remember much what was the story about... all i know, it's about pilots. and the title was so catchy, which easily stick to my brain's memory. frankly, in that young age... even i didn't really understand the content of story - what, when, where, why, how.... i was already stunned with the visual of combat scenes...aa, those pilots and their japanese aircraft! i wish i could sit and watch it again. emm, i'll find it.

when i checked back, Tora! Tora! Tora! is 1970 american-japanese movie. wow, a big collaboration of american and japanese. for real?! directed by 3 persons [1 american, 2 japanese] and the credit of writings go to the 6 persons [3 american and 3 japanese]. in short, this movie is about chains of historical events that related to Pearl Harbor attack.

about pearl harbor..i'm not sure if i should define it as smart or lucky.. there were about six signs before the attack - those were ignored or denied by american higher-ups.. six signs and they're not even prepared. although the intelligence already gave their warns and estimations.

"I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." - said Admiral Yamamoto after their success. 

 that was the beginning of WW II. and the ending happened when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed with the small boy and the fat boy [nuclears]. Pearl Harbor was the main American base in the Pacific region which located at Oahu, Hawaii island. meanwhile Hiroshima was a modern city of industrial and military significance; and Nagasaki was one of the largest, important sea ports in southern japan which still had surroundings of old-fashion town/villages. ~ emm, what a revenge.

"If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the likes of which has never been seen on this earth." - said President Harry S.Truman after Hiroshima atomic bombing.

emm, honestly... i couldn't remember much american war movies. perhaps, the one i could recall is only "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" ... and that's because my favorite tom hanks was the lead cast. this 1998 movie was about a loose true story of Niland brothers - a siblings of four american soldiers. three of them were killed in the WWII but the youngest one heard that still survived. operation was given to find him. this movie was about Normandy, France invasion which later the setting went to the fictional town of Ramelle where Ryan (fictional character) believed to located. [but in real-life, that Niland brother was actually imprisoned in Japanese POW camp, Burma].

.... Burma. emm~ i'm familiar with this. long time ago, so many my country men were captured by Japanese Army and were sent to Burma camp....forced to work as labor of railway's construction with little machinery. it's well known as Burma Death Railway. from wiki, i found out that the total of laborers were about 200,000 [local Asian people] and 60,000 [Allied POWs]. due to horrible working and living condition, hundreds thousands were died.    

last year, i watched another american-japanese production, "LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA" with my father. at first i was in doubt, especially knowing that this 2006 movie was directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood. i was afraid if i was going to hate it [after watching Memoirs of Geisha and later Dragonball Evolution, i totally have no faith for american to produce any japanese stuff).

but i gave my try since ken watanabe, ninomiya kazunari and so many other casts were my favorite. the setting was during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima is a sulfur island [an island of volcano chains which located at south of mainland Tokyo]. the battle also setting in WWII. the defeat of Japanese was predicted from the beginning - especially without backup from the mainland, big numbers of opponent, shortage of food-water supply and sickness. despite to that, even knowing they would lost and died.. those Japanese soldiers were fighting fiercely for 35 days - trying their best to defense and delayed the opponent as long as possible to invade the island.  

i really admired that this movie was well-made. clint eastwood was very dedicated in describing the movie from Japanese Army point view. at least eastwood being fair and square by presented both Letters from Iwo Jima [japanese version] and Flags of Our Father [american version] on the same war event. Letters from Iwo Jima was based on true story - from two non-fiction books which are [1] "Picture Letters from the Commander in Chief" wrote by General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (the high general who involved in the battle, acted by ken watanabe in the movie) and [2] "So Sad to Fall In Battle: An Account of War" wrote by Kumiko Kakehashi.

as the title suggested, japanese archeologists found bunch of letters that never sent out, wrote by japanese soldiers buried underground tunnels on Iwo Jima in 1945. from wiki, i found out that other alternative title for this movie was "Lamps Before the Wind", which taken from words in Kuribayashi's letter to his son: "The life of your father is just like a lamp before the wind." 

somehow, i'm guessing that General Kuribayashi portrayed by ken watanabe in the movie was a gentle person, father-figured and respected leader in real life. Kuribayashi once studied in Harvard University. he traveled across america to learn about the industrial and military research. not only genius, he's also talented in writing. this historical person now already well-known among outsiders after the movie  worldwide released.

what's the similar thing between Kuribayashi of Iwo Jima and Jamil of Bukit Kepong?
both were writing letters to their wife and family.
letter ~ tegami. i guess i should turn on oda kazumasa's song now.

here the song
Kotoba ni Dekinai by Oda Kazumasa.

Oda Kazumasa - Kot...