Otoko-tachi no Yamato (2005)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Junya Sato

Writers:

Jun Henmi (novel)
Junya Sato (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 December 2005 (Japan)

Genre:

War

Plot:

Makiko Uchida arrives in a southern Japanese port hoping to find a boat that will take her to the final...

Plot Keywords:

Yamato | Battleship | WWII | Based On Novel

Awards:

6 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Takashi Sorimachi	...	Shohachi Moriwaki
Shido Nakamura	...	Mamoru Uchida (as Shidô Nakamura)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yû Aoi	...	Taeko
Junichi Haruta	...	Hisao Koike
Ryô Hashidume	...	Yoshiharu Kojima (as Ryô Hashizume)
Ryuzo Hayashi	...	Ryunosuke Kusaka
Hiroyuki Hirayama	...	Tamaki
Hirotaro Honda	...	Tetsuzo Furumura
Hisashi Igawa	...	The Chairman
Sosuke Ikematsu	...	Atsushi
Kenji Kaneko	...	Machimura
Hiroshi Katsuno	...	Nobue Morishita
Ken'ichi Matsuyama	...	Katsumi Kamio (15 years old)
Takashi Morimiya	...	Omori
Fumito Moriwaki
Kazushige Nagashima	...	Usubuchi
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Katsumi Kamio (75 years old)
Umitarou Nozaki	...	Jiro Nomura
Eiji Okuda	...	Kosaku Ariga
Hiromi Sakimoto	...	Sumio Tsuneta
Kayoko Shiraishi	...	Sue Kamio
Kyoka Suzuki	...	Makiko Uchida (as Kyôka Suzuki)
Noboru Takachi	...	Kawazoe
Atsuko Takahata	...	Tsune Tamaki
Kenji Takaoka	...	Shiro Mogi
Shinobu Terajima	...	Ayako
Kenta Uchino	...	Tetsuya Nishi
Dai Watanabe	...	Toshio Date
Tetsuya Watari	...	Seiichi Ito
Jundai Yamada	...	Masao Karaki
Kimiko Yo	...	Sayo Nishi

Directed by
Junya Sato		(as Jun'ya Satô)

Writing credits
Jun Henmi		(novel "Ketteiban Otoko-tachi no Yamato")
Junya Sato		(screenplay)

Produced by
Haruki Kadokawa	....	planner: Kadokawa Haruki Jimusho
Noriko Koyanagi	....	producer
Sunao Sakagami	....	planner: Tôei
Tan Takaiwa	....	executive producer: Tôei

Original Music by
Joe Hisaishi

Cinematography by
Yoshitaka Sakamoto

Film Editing by
Takeo Yoneda

Casting by
Yasuhiro Fukuoka

Art Direction by
Noriyuki Kondo

Production Management
Toshiki Komatsu	....	production manager: second unit
Keitaro Shimizu	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tohru Harada	....	second unit director
Megumi Sawada	....	assistant director
Megumi Sawada	....	second unit director
Koichiro Yamashita	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Nobuhiko Matsukage	....	sound

Special Effects by
Hiroshi Butsuda	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Masato Aonuma	....	cg artist: NTT Media Lab
Hiroshi Ihara	....	miniature chief model maker
Norihiko Iwasaki	....	miniature producer
Takashi Kato	....	miniature model maker
Taro Kiba	....	miniature design and construction
Chieko Kurokawa	....	digital compositor: NTT Media Lab
Kôji Misada	....	digital compositor: NTT Media Lab
Hiroki Mori	....	digital compositor: NTT Media Lab
Koichi Noguchi	....	visual effects supervisor
Shinji Ohagi	....	digital compositor: NTT Media Lab
Kazuhiro Shigihara	....	cg artist: NTT Media Lab
Takeshi Shin	....	visual effects supervisor: NTT Media Lab
Isamu Tajima	....	miniature set construction
Kyoko Yamamoto	....	digital compositor: NTT Media Lab

Camera and Electrical Department
Takeshi Okubo	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Emi Fukuda	....	casting assistant
Emi Fukuda	....	casting secretary
Taketsugu Nishijima	....	casting secretary

Music Department
Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi	....	composer: theme song

Other crew
Shigeyuki Endô	....	publicist

Production Companies

• Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, The
• Chugoku Shimbun Newspaper
• Hiroshima Home TV
• Hokkaido Broadcasting Co. Ltd.
• Kadokawa Haruki Jimusho
• Nagasaki International Television Broadcasting
• TV Asahi
• Toei Animation Company
• Toei Company
• Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co.

Distributors

• Toei Company (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Future Film (2007) (Finland) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Marbling FineArts (miniature effects)
• NTT Media Lab (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra
• Tokyo Philharmonic  orchestra

Also Known As:

Yamato (International: English title)

Runtime:

145 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Kure, Hiroshima, Japan

Company:

Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, The

Goofs:

Factual errors: At least one attacking US plane in the film has the fat black and white "three stripe" pattern on the wings and body. While it is an authentic period detail visible on many old images, it wasn't used in the Pacific. Wrong side of the world! The high-visibility black-white pattern was used during the D-Day invasion to make it easier for Allied pilots and antiaircraft crews to avoid firing upon "friendly" aircraft. (The more discreet chevron mark on Coalition vehicles during Gulf War I had a similar purpose.)

Amen to some of the excellent (positive) comments here

There are a number of very thoughtful and articulate comments posted here already about this movie, so good that the best I can say is Amen! and Thank you! to them. I do, however, want to add my voice to the chorus. I am VERY glad I had a chance to view this film. It far exceeded anything I expected of it.

This movie brought me to the verge of tears by the end, with scenes such as the mother condemning a shipmate of her lost son for surviving, his begging her forgiveness for surviving, the sense of loss for the sweet love affair ended by the death of the girl in Hiroshima - so many moments! - the youth of the boys being sent off on a mission they had little chance of returning from, wives and babies seeing the men leaving for the last time ...

Those who comment here on the historical obsolescence of battleships like the Yamato are so far off base - this is a film about the terrible human loss of war, about the personal tragedies, about the emptiness of the bushido code of the Japanese warrior that underlay Japanese military training, about the guilt, penance and absolution of survivors of the sinking of the Yamato. Yes, it's true that nothing was made of Japanese atrocities against other Asians, but what did these young boys have to do with all that? It's also worth noting that the atomic bomb attacks by the Americans were not exploited, there was no condemnation, no depiction of the horrors, no implied resentment. I was somewhat disappointed at how the attack on Pearl Harbor was passed over rather glibly with the phrase that, after several countries had placed an embargo on oil for Japan, "the impasse was broken." But this film is not about making political statements, buttressing nationalistic pride, uncovering or hiding misdeeds by one side or the other.

Yes, one hungers for more panoramic views of the gigantic battleship in all its glory, but the film lives in the personal stories of its men and boys, not in mere eye candy. I agree heartily that this film easily withstands comparison with the American film "Pearl Harbor," which was crammed with terrible romantic clichés and depressing gung-ho nationalism (that movie was extended a full extra hour to include the Doolittle Raid, the only point being to give viewers a sense of vengeance being wrought against the enemy.) "Yamato" inspires thought and reflection, and it touches the heart. I am very sorry that more people outside Japan do not get a chance to see it.