Keyes 1 Chris Keyes Nancy Elliott English 111 22 October 2013 Courageous When most people hear the

word kamikaze, they think of savage monsters. To truly understand the point of view from the perspective of a kamikaze, one needs to understand the situation that they were in. Japans back was against the wall in World War II. Their naval fleet was nearly destroyed and they were being driven back to the mainland. The kamikaze was Japans last hope to defend their country from surrender. The movie Wings of Defeat, directed by Risa Morimoto and Linda Hoaglund, clarifies the thoughts that the kamikaze pilots of World War II were not extremists, but they were actually serving as devoted soldiers. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan. This drew the United States out of their isolationist ideals. As the war continued the Battle of Midway nearly wiped out all of the Japanese fleet. Japan needed something to lead them to victory; the kamikaze was their answer. The narrator talks about how her uncle was kamikaze trained. She begins to describe how she previously associated the word kamikaze with savage, brutal, and terrorist. She decided to do research on her uncle and the kamikaze in general. The narrator found that her uncle never had to do a mission because the war was over before he was assigned. The movie continued to interview veterans of the war that fought for the United States and asked for their perspective. As the movie went on, it interviewed some World War II pilots that were part of the kamikaze. The show went in depth to find what the pilots were going through

Keyes 2 moments before and during their missions, such as the rituals that the pilots participated in and the habits of the pilots. If a viewer wanted to digest the movie Wings of Defeat, he or she needs to understand who the audience is. Many people watching this movie have no prior knowledge of the kamikaze, and if they do, it is probably is incorrect. Since most people think of the kamikaze as barbaric, this movie sets out to prove the audience that the courageous pilots were not the animals that the public believes they are. During the interviews, the pilots are shown as everyday people; their tone is calm, they smile, and they explain their point of view. The former pilots explain to the audience that they were expected by the emperor to do these missions in order to defend the country. It was a last stand effort to hold on to what they had left. The kamikaze were dedicated patriots to their country and were considered gods to the community. In the movie, the director made sure to interview a few Americans on the USS Drexler, which was sunk by the kamikaze killing 159 of its crew (Wings). One of the interviewed crew members that survived claimed that if America was in the same position that Japan was in, we would do the same to Japan or Germany. This film works the audiences emotions by illustrating that Japan had no choice but the send the kamikaze and how it was ideal for Japanese citizens to die for their country. One of the people interviewed stated that for the Samurai, how a person dies is critical; this culture praised young men dying for their country. Before the United States was drawn into the war, Japan was virtually unstoppable, and the movie does a good job at describing how young boys wanted to join the army because of it. These children were trained, almost bred, at a young age to become pilots. According to the film, in October 1943, students had to join the military. Even worse, Japan was running out of war supplies. They needed to mix pine ricin with fuel in order to conserve what they had left. These events in the movie further

Keyes 3 appealed to the emotions of the audience because it made clear the disparity of the Japanese army at the time. The Japanese generals did not want to force people to die, but to them it was their only hope of winning the war. Throughout the interviews and scenes, music was playing. It was a genre of music that made people interested in what was taking place on the screen because it fit the setting very well. As some of the fight scenes took place the music was up-tempo and got the audiences heart going. During some of the interviews, the movie faded out to some violin playing music; the rhythm and sound helped to portray the hopelessness of Japan. Throughout the movie the dead bodies of Japanese soldiers were shown laying along a beach on Okinawa. The kamikaze were the last hope to stop the destruction of Japan; that is why citizens of Japan took care of the pilots when they had the day off. They were highly respected as courageous, fierce warriors. A lady that was interviewed shared a story about how when the United States was advancing into the homeland; all of the young children and women were to have bamboo spears ready. If they were to see an American soldier, they were to kill them. The movie continuously provided examples like this of how desperate the Japanese were to defend their country. Wings of Defeat convinced me that the kamikaze were honorable people. Because I am not biased, I feel that it was very effective. Even if the audience was biased against the cause of the kamikaze, I think that the movie will still be effective in changing the views of everyone who watches. From the saddened tone of the people that were interviewed, to the harsh images shown of the destruction to the country and people, the film has convinced me that the kamikaze were truly Japans last hope. The evidence is there, the kamikaze pilots were not the savage monsters that some people still think they are today. This film does a fantastic job of showing the real side to the kamikaze,

Keyes 4 the patriotic side. The kamikaze did not want to fly these missions. One of the pilots that was interviewed compared getting into his plane as getting into his own casket. The only reason they followed orders is because they felt forced to in order to save their country. From their emperor, who they considered god, telling them to do it for their country, to their families that needed protecting at home, the kamikaze needed to defend their country. If more people watched this film, they would be able to understand the true heroic kamikaze.

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Work Cited Wings of Defeat. Dir. Morimoto, Risa and Linda Hoaglund. Edgewood Pictures Inc, 2007. DVD.