'Evening lads.
I know that we got some WWII airplanes fans out there and, I watched a movie last night that I’d like to recommend to you guys.
‘‘Eien no zero’’ or the Eternal Zero.
I’d never had heard of it or watched it before, guessing that’s the time translation came out, and to be totally honest it shacked me a little inside.
It’s a 2013 Japanese Action/Drama movie, themed on the WWII imperial aviation, of witch I enjoyed the full 2h24m long, an awesome CG, a beautiful music cover, and superb plot.
You can check the trailer right there :
[youtube]rOE3GuFbQWM[/youtube]
And for the ones you don’t want to watch it entirely here is a link with some of the movie CG.
I’d like to ask something, though. I’ve also seen this movie (Det blåser upp en vind (2013) - IMDb), The wind rises, about the dude who designed the Zero and while it’s a nice movie, I’m wondering how did we get to the point that an aggressor can make romanticized films about one of it’s weapons used in the most horrifying war of all times?! Or for that matter - anyone making a film about weapons of destruction and making them all fluffy and emotional like it wasn’t used to kill people.
To me it just seems so weird…imagine the Germans started making movies like "The wonderful Messerschmit" or "The eternal MG42"; "The indomitable chlorine gas"…"The everlasting Flammpanzer I".
Kinda sickening when you think about it and, yet, the Japs don’t seem to have a problem with that…
I’d like to ask something, though. I’ve also seen this movie (Det blåser upp en vind (2013) - IMDb), The wind rises, about the dude who designed the Zero and while it’s a nice movie, I’m wondering how did we get to the point that an aggressor can make romanticized films about one of it’s weapons used in the most horrifying war of all times?! Or for that matter - anyone making a film about weapons of destruction and making them all fluffy and emotional like it wasn’t used to kill people.[/quote]
It’s the cultural difference that makes it weird. The "western" version of that would be … well, basically Pearl Harbor. The "heroes" (?) who fly across enemy territory, bombing enemy factories, romanticizing about the love left at home, etc.
I guess the most extreme case the "western" side can show is something like Independence Day. See what I mean?
As for the medium (anime), it has a much bigger role in the Japanese culture than animated fairytales in the "west", it’s basically the equivalent of Michael Bay’s blue&orange movie feel, in terms of quantity.
There’s a much deeper context missing, and also the definition of who an "aggressor" is. It’s often portrayed as the bad guy, but imagine yourself sitting behind a desk with a person next to you poking you painfuly every few minutes, with you telling him to stop. But he wouldn’t listen, so you punch him in the face, which triggers a classroom-wide conflict. When it comes to pointing fingers about the person who started it, you’ll be the aggressor.
Not saying it was that simple in WWII, but the point is that world is not black and white and just because the western culture feels more freedom-ish doesn’t mean it doesn’t get its fair share of media-based propaganda.
The current "Russian problem" is a very nice example.
More on the psychology aspects later, if you’re interested, but I believe my point was made.
I wasn’t defending the western approach either. I equally dislike American boasting and their glorification of war, but what we’ve established by now is that it’s OK to do it because the other guy is doing it as well.
Well, if we’re taking it to the extreme - let’s make a film about how beautiful the German flamethrower tank was. See how far that gets us…
[quote user_id=“13688759” avatar=“https://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/13688759/avatar/medium.1433274021.jpeg” name=“Chypsa”]I wasn’t defending the western approach either. I equally dislike American boasting and their glorification of war, but what we’ve established by now is that it’s OK to do it because the other guy is doing it as well.
Well, if we’re taking it to the extreme - let’s make a film about how beautiful the German flamethrower tank was. See how far that gets us…[/quote]
It’s basically romanticizing about one’s favorite tool to fight for one’s faction. The perfect sword. The good ol’ trusty M1911. The magnificent P-51.
[quote user_id=“13688759” avatar=“https://assets-cloud.enjin.com/users/13688759/avatar/medium.1433274021.jpeg” name=“Chypsa”]I wasn’t defending the western approach either. I equally dislike American boasting and their glorification of war, but what we’ve established by now is that it’s OK to do it because the other guy is doing it as well.
Well, if we’re taking it to the extreme - let’s make a film about how beautiful the German flamethrower tank was. See how far that gets us…[/quote]
I won’t actually mind a good film around a Tiger crew, something in the spirit of Fury.
