For Those We Love (2007)
In 1943, as Japan's WWII effort falters, a vice-admiral proposes training squadrons of "volunteer" flyers to crash their armed planes into Allied warships. Yarn follows the lives of kamikaze pilots, as remembered by an aging Kyushu restaurateur who cherishes their memory. Honoring the dead and multiple military anthems may stir the soul of some Japanese, but elsewhere auds will make a one-way trip for exits. Battle scenes are well-executed and script delivers some memorable scenes, but overall competent helming and thesping are powerless over writer-cum-Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishiara's repetitive storytelling. A post-war postscript adds considerable length to an already over-extended narrative. Tech credits are good quality.
Directing:
Writing:
Stars:
- Taku Shinjo
Writing:
- Shintarō Ishihara
Stars:
Release Date: 2007-05-12
6.2/10
6.2/10
- Country: JP
- Language: 日本語
- Runtime: 135
Leutnant Bando
Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi
Kapitän Nakanishi
Leutnant Tabata
Torihama
Reiko Torihama
Kaneyama
田端由蔵
Military police
Ryoko Tabata
Soichi Kawai
Staff Sergeant Kato
Shigeo Oshima
Ichieda Tsuruta
Hisako Bando
Kawai's mother
Mioko Torihama
Colonel Azuma
Shojo Tsuruta
Colonel Azuma
Shimizu (as Suzunosuke)
Oshima's grandfather
Navy captain Yukio Seki
kamikaze pilot
Colonel Azuma