Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) - film review

1941.  In an attempt to weaken Japan after its seizure of Indochina, the United States imposes an embargo that will deprive the country of essential raw materials.  Japan reacts by signing a tripartite agreement with Germany and Italy whilst making preparations for a war with America.  Having identified the American Pacific fleet stationed at Hawaii as an immediate threat, the Japanese plan an all-out attack, although some fear that this will lead to them fighting a war they cannot hope to win.  Forewarned by the intelligence service in Washington that the Japanese may attack the American naval base in Hawaii, the island is put on a state of alert.  However, the military commanders at the base do not take the possibility of an attack seriously.  They mistakenly believe that Pearl Harbour, where most of the Pacific fleet is stationed, is too shallow for a torpedo attack to be effective.  When an anticipated attack fails to materialise, the base commanders lower their guard, unaware that six Japanese aircraft carriers are heading for the island.  On 7th December, the Americans are taken completely by surprise when the Japanese launch an airstrike that will virtually decimate the base at Pearl Harbour, making America’s entry into WWII inevitable...

With a budget of 25 million dollars and a cast running into several thousand (including over two hundred speaking parts), Tora! Tora! Tora! is one of the most expensive and spectacular war films ever made.  It differs from most war films in that it tells the story – the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 – from the point of view of both sides and adopts an unbiased documentary approach, giving a detailed and authentic account of what took place, both prior to and during the attack.

The film was in pre-production for three years and took eight months to shoot.  The production was divided between two teams, one in the United States, one in Japan.  Akira Kurosawa was originally hired to direct the Japanese sequences, but he withdrew and was replaced by Kinji Fukasaku.  Richard Fleischer directed the American sequences, having recently won acclaim for his thriller The Boston Strangler (1968) and Che (1969), a biography on the life of Che Guevara.  

Tora! Tora! Tora! is an informative and, despite its substantial runtime, thoroughly absorbing piece of cinema.  It provides a fascinating account of the political and military blunders made by both the Japanese and the Americans in the weeks leading up until the attack.  The arrogance of the Japanese military leaders and the complacency of their American counterparts are the two things that made what President Franklin D. Roosevelt would refer to as ‘The Day of Infamy’ inevitable.  If this had been a work of fiction, no audience would have believed it.

The pièce de résistance is the harrowing recreation of the attack on Peal Harbour, one of the most impressive action sequences of any war film, with visual effects that won the film its only Oscar.  It is reported that it cost more to stage these scenes than the actual attack itself cost the US military, and it is easy to believe.  The blistering inferno of war has rarely been depicted more vividly on screen than here.

It is a heart-wrenching and traumatic experience to watch such a convincing wartime re-enactment, in which we see American servicemen reduced to impotent inaction in the face of such a well-coordinated and ruthless Japanese onslaught.  Today, it is hard to imagine the anger that seized America in the aftermath of the attack.  This film helps us to understand just why the Pearl Harbour attack had such a galvanising effect on the nation that had hitherto resisted being drawn into WWII.  As the film succinctly puts it, the sleeping giant had awoken, and Japan would rue the day.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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