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.
Taku Shinjo
Satoshi Tokushige, Yosuke Kubozuka, Michitaka Tsutsui, Keiko Kishi, Mikako Tabe, Yasuyuki Maekawa, Masat? Ibu, Satoru Matsuo, Toru Emori
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