Fangirly and Psychotic Thoughts

(The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favor the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester among his staff. In the lower echelons, a young soldier, Saigo, a poor baker in civilian life, strives with his friends to survive the harsh regime of the Japanese army itself, all the while knowing that a fierce battle looms. When the American invasion begins, both Kuribayashi and Saigo find strength, honor, courage, and horrors beyond imagination. Written by Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>// source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498380/)

I've known about this movie even before I became an ARASHI fan but I didn't have any interest to watch it despite the fact that I am obsessed with JAPANESE history and culture. I decided to watch it today though since it was always an amusing topic between ARASHI members and I kinda wanted to know why so many international critics praised Nino's acting in this movie.

Well then I watched it and I just got depressed during the 2-hour long film. I love Nino and maybe because I knew what his ending in the movie would be that I wasn't able to remove that gloomy feeling even before the opening credits were shown. I agree that the movie was an eye opener, the story telling was so in depth and the musical scoring deserves the Academy Award but yes, maybe because I always see Nino acting as a brat and fooling around that's why it is hard for me to remove that depressed feeling. Well, the good thing is, Nino was really amazing in this movie. If you weren't a fan, you wouldn't even think that he's an idol. Also, he has that ability to make viewers empathize with him.



This is also a new perspective for me since being a Filipino, I've seen a whole bunch of anti-Japanese WWII movies in High School. We were taught how these Japanese soldiers tortured and massacred our fellow Filipinos and whatnot. Seeing this movie though, I understood that these Japanese soldiers were also suffering because of the war.

And it makes me kinda happy that nowadays most of the Filipinos have already forgiven Japan and even considers it as a sister-country. I hope this good relationship will continue on despite the bad NEWS about Philippines among the international media...