Film: The Pacific Battleship Yamato
Release date: 27th September 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 143 mins
Director: Junya Sato
Starring: Takashi Sorimachi, Shidô Nakamura, Yû Aoi, Jun'ichi Haruta, Ryô Hashidume
Genre: Action/Drama/History/War
Studio: Metrodome
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Based on a book by Jun Henmi, The Pacific Battleship Yamato tells the story of the famous Japanese battleship, the largest ship ever built for war, and its last voyage.
The story revolves around the young cadets during WWII, and their training leading up to the sinking of the Yamato. The story is framed by the sailor Uchida’s adopted daughter’s story.
After his death, curious to understand her father’s experiences, she asks Kamio, a fellow sailor, to take her to the Yamato’s resting place. Reluctantly, Kamio agrees and the rest of the film is told in flashback, recounting the story of the crew of the WWII battleship, concentrating on the ship's demise during Operation Ten-Go…
In the early scenes, we get a sense of the power and grandeur of the Yamato as the new cadets get an introduction to naval discipline and routine, which establishes the setting well for the audience, before the film focuses on the dramatic battle sequences, which are spectacularly staged and realistically bloody. Limbs are blown off left, right and centre, showing the harsh truth of war.
The human side of the story, however, is told rather heavy-handedly. The film suffers from overacting from many of its cast. Many of the naval officers’ parts seem to consist of squinting angrily and shouting - with little emotion. Whilst they were no doubt disciplined, a little more of a human side would have created greater audience empathy. It doesn’t help that there are virtually no female characters apart from Kamio’s young cousin, and Uchida’s lover, who appears briefly. This is very much a story of male camaraderie, wartime heroism and sacrifice.
In fairness, the actors playing the young Uchida and Kamio are convincing, and bring a much needed humanity to the story. Uchida escapes hospital in order to fulfil his duties aboard the ship and fight alongside his comrades, and is portrayed as something of a rebel and a thinker, which makes for a good contrast with the other characters.
Some viewers may have a problem with the dialogue, which is rather stilted, but this effectively conveys the discipline and uniformity of the Japanese navy, and it is refreshing to see the events of WWII told from a non-US perspective - although there is an equal amount of patriotism and machismo as found in most war films.
The action is almost entirely set aboard the Yamato, and sometimes this can make the film a little repetitive, especially since many of the scenes involve cadets following orders and doing drills. The first half of the film is particularly stilted; it is like watching a series of military training videos. The action picks up in the second half, however, and the film becomes more exciting as the Yamato prepares for the battle at Okinawa.
The scene of the night before the big battle is an emotional one; we see the cadets getting drunk, sharing a final meal and staring silently out to sea. Both they and the audience know what is to come, and this builds the tension effectively. The action accelerates towards the end; the final battle, which is a lengthy (it takes up most of the second half of the film) and visually spectacular one, and some of the final scenes are very touching, as we witness the deaths of some principle characters and the tragic consequences of this for family and comrades left behind. In these scenes, we certainly get a sense of the cost of war, and the lasting impact that remains for those that survived.
The Pacific Battleship Yamato is a film which depicts the realities of war. It is essentially an extremely long battle scene, which is striking as well as being brutal. The film falters and meanders a little when it comes to the human elements of the story but the finale will certainly hold the attention of the audience as the Yamato is attacked from all sides, and mass destruction and death ensues. CP
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