Japan’s Longest Day (1967)
Picture: C Sound: C Extras: C Film: B
On their
35th Anniversary, Toho Studios took a dark, honest, long look at the
end of World War II for Japan in Kihachi Okamoto’s Japan’s Longest Day (1967).
This 158 minutes-long epic shows how Japanese Imperialism and the
government of Emperor Hirohito was in its final days. We see the behind the scenes of the surrender
and how simply surrendering was insufficient.
Toshiro Mifune leads the huge cast portraying the events, often
painfully and with humility, how it all finally fell apart.
The
beginning of the film is documentary-like the way War films like Patton (1970) were, well-rounded
particularly in the beginning. Then the
drama kicks in and the rest is the end of one of the darkest chapters in world
history. For whatever reasons, though
politics and Political Correctness are factors, this is a Toho film that is not
discussed much, but it is a gem in their catalog. Of course, the studio is known for more than
just Godzilla and giant monster films, but more of this kind of catalog should
get more exposure and attention.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is softer than expected, though the
print is in good shape, this is nicely shot and is a fine use of TohoScope by
Hiroshi Murai. The bigger problem than
detail is the lack of rich Video Black that is not a stylized choice. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also old, with
dated fidelity, some background noise and some minor phase flaws. Extras include text on the production,
trailers for this & similar films and stills.
- Nicholas Sheffo
