“Blood Oath” (also called “Prisoners of the Sun” in
the States) is an Australian film released in 1990. It was directed by Stephen Wallace and
written and produced by Brian Williams.
Williams’ father John was the prosecutor in the trial depicted in the
film. The movie marked the screen debut
of Russell Crowe.
The film is set on the island of Ambon. Of 1,100 Australian and Dutch prisoners taken
when the Japanese took the island, only about 300 survived. The war is over and a mass gave has been
uncovered . Capt. Cooper (Brian Baker –
playing the role representing John Williams) heads a war crimes trial to bring
the perpetrators to justice. Crowe is
his aide. A flashback depicts the
mistreatment of prisoners supervised by the vile Sgt. Ikeuchi (Tetsu
Watanabe). The big fish is Adm.
Takahashi (George Takei) who is chaperoned by an American Maj. Beckett (Terry
O’Quinn). Cooper attempts to prove the
admiral gave the orders. He is acquitted
because of lack of evidence and flown back to Japan.
Now that the big fish has gotten away, Cooper
concentrates on four airmen who were shot down on Ambon and disappeared. His superior asks him why he needs the four
airmen when he has 300 corpses in a mass grave and plenty of eyewitnesses to the
brutality of the guards. Good question
and one that remains unanswered. One of
the captured airmen’s had a brother in the camp who witnessed not only his
torturing, but the subsequent beheading and burial. On the witness stand, the obviously
traumatized Lt. Fenton (John Polson) gives damning (but seemingly inadmissible,
evidence) against Icheuki. When Fenton
dies that night, Cooper beats up Icheuki with
no consequences and a lot of irony.
With the new revelations and the discovery of the
grave site of the four airmen, Cooper focuses his efforts on Icheuki and a
milquetoast officer named Tanaka (Toshi Shioya). Tanaka testifies that Takahashi gave the
orders, but Beckett makes sure his boy is untouchable because he is part of the
post-war plans for Japan. As part of the
Pacification program the future of the world depends on him, according to
Beckett. Cooper counters with: “You’re
not working out the future of the world, you’re just preventing it from being
different from the past”. Oh, snap! It’s not just the emperor who will get off
easy. It’s just politics. Ikeuchi has no protector so he commits
hari-kari. Good riddance. There’s still that little matter of Tanaka
cutting off an airman’s head with no written orders nor proof of an official
court-martial.
“Prisoners of the Sun” is based on a true story. After Ambon fell, the Japanese executed 300
Australian and Dutch prisoners in what became known as the Laha Massacre. Three-fourths of the remaining prisoners died
before liberation due to overwork, disease, and mistreatment. 93 guards were put on trial in 1946 in what
was the largest war crimes trial in the Pacific. Rear Admiral Hatekeyama was determined to
have ordered the executions, but he died before the trial finished. A different Hatekeyama was hanged for being
in direct command of the executions.
Three other officers were hanged for assorted mistreatments of
prisoners. It appears the filmmakers
have taken many liberties with the facts.
The whole subplot of Takehashi being protected by the American
government seems made up to advance the theme of politics trumping justice.
There is nothing special about the movie. The acting is fine. Baker is seethingly righteous. Watanabe is creepily malevolent. Shioya is effective as the pawn. The rest are okay with Crowe not deserving
his prominent placement on the poster and Takei slumming in a stunt
casting. A nurse is thrown in to provide
a female foil and undeveloped romance angle for Cooper. The score is new wave schmaltzy. The cinematography is standard. The set is pretty good. It does look like a prison camp.
The plot is the main flaw. Close examination leads to head
scratching. There should have been
plenty of evidence of brutality to convict the guards. After all, Fenton was not the only surviving
prisoner to witness and be subjected to violations of the acts of war. No other survivors are called as witnesses. The subplot of Takehashi getting off is an
indictment of the post-war coddling of war criminals and is
thought-provoking. It is also memorable
that Cooper’s obsession with convicting someone results in the conviction of
the less than villainous Tanaka. The
flashbacks, including the beheading of Fenton’s brother, are well done.
“Blood Oath” is the type of movie that takes a
forgotten moment in history and brings it to the public’s attention. For that, it deserves some praise. It did cause me to read up on the trial and I
found there is not a whole lot of information on the Internet. What little I found gave me the impression
that the movie is not really a good history lesson. It is fairly entertaining and the themes are
compelling, just not a movie to get excited about. Even if you are a Russell Crowe fan.
Will it crack my 100 Best War Movies list? No.
Too bad. This had an promising premise.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that so many movies focussing on lesser known angles just fail to render them in an appealing way. A well made docemnetary would often serve the cause much better.
I agree that it was a missed opportunity, but I think you might like it. I know you like Australian war movies (as do I). However, for all the misfires, you do get some good movies that shine a light on events that would other wise be unknown to the historically illiterate masses. Right off the top of my head I can think of "Escape from Sobibor", "The Great Raid", and "Defiance". There are several future war movies that I am very nervous will botch it. The sad fact is once a great, obscure topic has been done poorly there is no way it will get a second chance.
ReplyDeletegreatest ever
ReplyDeleteMake up your mind.
Delete