April 26, 2014  

Movie review (super short): 永遠のゼロ (The Forever Zero)

04015dde6181377015fe977f56c94dd7I finally watched this on the plane. For those who don’t know, 永遠のゼロ is a right wing film production, which tells the story of a contemporary family seeking information on their grandfather, who signed up to be a part of the Kamikaze program at the end of WWII.

I learned a couple of things by watching this movie. First, the Japanese incursion into Asia never really happened. In fact, it’s never mentioned at all. No wonder kids don’t know anything about the war. The right wing is selectively erasing it from the history books.

Second, I learned that Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent war with the US wasn’t a bad idea. It was a great idea, but just need to be fought smarter. If only more people had been like the heroic main character of the, the Japanese would have won. The main character isn’t worried about fighting a senseless war and that millions are dying all around him, He’s really only worried that it’s being fought badly.

The right wing in Japan and in the State have a lot in common. They selectively pick snippets of history which they like, regardless if they actually ever happened, and ignore the parts they don’t like to create a new historical narrative. This movie, aside from the generally annoying dialogue and subpar acting, works as a great propaganda piece, but not for much of anything else.

About Pete Larson

Researcher at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Lecturer in the University of Michigan School of Public Health and at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I do epidemiology, public health, GIS, health disparities and environmental justice. I also do music and weird stuff.

5 responses to “Movie review (super short): 永遠のゼロ (The Forever Zero)”

  1. Siloo Kapadia says :

    It is an excellent movie. Good to see different opinions other than that of USA all the time. Do go see it. Pay no mind to what the Americanos think; they think the whole world should say and think the way they do and when we don’t, we are “wrong.” They are just upset that although they won the military war they lost the economic war.

  2. No says :

    Confusing rant. The film makes no comment either about the motivation for the war nor the rights or wrongs of either political side. It’s simply a film about the personal suffering of an individual Japanese pilot during the war – do right wing American nationalists like yourself assume that ‘enemy’ forces didn’t have such experiences and we’re simply a race of evil drones to be wiped out of existence by noble uncle Sam

  3. Patric Grant says :

    This movie is excellent. This is not a documentary video but a entertainment movie. Napoleon movie doesn’t mention the victim side. The commentator needs to calm down, if he is a professional.

  4. Pete Larson says :

    I am not a right wing nationalist. I’m not sure why you would assume that. Perhaps you should read some of my other posts.

    I’m sorry that you found the post confusing, but part of the problem with the film is that what it excludes. It’s not what the film explicitly shows, but rather what they chose to leave out.

    Thank you for reading.

  5. Firekiller15 says :

    Why are you lefties hand wringing jerks about everything?

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