"Japan's Longest Day": How did Japan use movies to reflect on World War II?
Text/Ma Qingyun
In the summer of 2015, Japan also released a World War II movie called "Japan's Longest Day". What we have released here is "The Battle of the Hundred Regiments", which reflects the mindset of our leaders. And "The Longest Day in Japan", I think, is not only a kind of thinking mode commonly carried by Japanese officials and the public, but also the main theme of Japan's film.
The film tells the story of Japan's struggle between the emperor, the cabinet, the army and the navy on the eve of its surrender in World War II. Although the contest was contested, the ultimate consciousness of these four parties was for the good of the "Great Japanese Empire" and the Japanese people, and they swore to die to defend the country and the people. Japan's World War II film, unlike the war movies of other countries in the world, such as the United States, South Korea and even some European countries, is anti-war, and it praises the country and the people between the Japanese government, the emperor and the army to the extreme, turning a blind eye to the harm caused by the war to other countries, avoiding talking about it, and taking one or two shots of the harm caused by the war to its own people.
I don't know if I can think of a contemporary film as the ideology of some of Japan's current population. But what I see in "Japan's Longest Day" is Japan's "sincere hypocrisy." Whether it is the emperor, the cabinet, or the army advocating resistance, they are completely out of their own interests, they are all dedicated to the people, such a figure myth, I seem to have seen similar in the Soviet Union's praise of Stalin. Even the suicide of the Japanese army leader Anan is so sincere and generous, completely devoid of human fear and the slightest consideration of himself, full of the country and the nation.
In this play, the more sincere the performance, or the more I am afraid, the more the hypocrisy in the Japanese national ideology is vividly described. Of course, we can ask how the Japanese themselves viewed World War II. Judging from the scene reflected in the film, Japan does not think that this is an invasion of the world at all, on the contrary, whether it is the emperor, the government, or the military, they all believe that this is a co-prosperity action in Greater East Asia, but it has encountered wrong resistance. "Japan's Longest Day" avoids talking about acts of aggression, and only strives to praise how its ancestors served the country and the people – this is where their tact lies. The more sincere, the more hypocritical.
From the movie, you can also get another kind of message. Japan is a group with a strong national character, and this nationality can of course also be said to be a regional sentiment within the territory of Japan. In China, there are also many places with regional sentiments, such as Henan. If you tell the people of Henan that you Henan light liars, the Henan compatriots on the other side will probably scold you. Henan fellows, do not allow you to say bad things about Henan, but only stay on the prohibition of you to say, after that, stealing is still stealing, stealing is still stealing. Japan's regional sentiment is different.
They are also afraid that others will look down on them, and they are also afraid that others will find out their shortcomings and evils. But they will twist and go towards the so-called benefits. Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan's political system was ridiculed by the West, so they carried out political reforms, commemorating the black ship that knocked on the door of Japan, locating events, and enthusiastically praising it. After World War II, they worked hard to develop democracy, economy, and civilization, destined for personal hygiene, and focused on collective literacy. Even those of us who are accustomed to sloppiness will like the collective upward nation of Japan.
However, The problem with Japan also lies in their abhorrent regional sentiments. The Japanese as an ethnic group lack the ability to deny the past. To maintain regional sentiment, the first thing is not to deny the past. Therefore, many works of art in Japan strive to find the correctness and value of Japan's past. Many currents of thought in China are, in fact, taking the road of Japan again. This region has maintained a complete national mood. This emotion can sometimes motivate this ethnic group to develop in a more civilized direction, so as to gain more affirmation from the world. But sometimes, this sentiment will also lead this ethnic group to use its own civilization to "rescue" other uncivilized regions and countries in the world. The Second World War launched by Japan came with this sentiment. We call it militarism. I think militarism just caters to this ethnic sentiment in Japan.
Because it lacks the ability to deny the past, "The Longest Day in Japan" will only try to find all kinds of things for the country and the people of the emperor, the cabinet, and the military, and does not dare to criticize them. We have always said that Japan's reflection on World War II is not complete. This incompleteness stems from the undeniable sentiment towards the ancestors in the Japanese ethnic consciousness. From an anti-war standpoint, I think "The Longest Day in Japan" is a seemingly sincere way to make a history that people in other regions find very hypocritical.
If the movie can really be seen as the group mentality of some Japanese people at present, then I think that "The Longest Day in Japan" is toxic, and the mentality of some people in Japan is indeed worth vigilance. I'm more civilized than you, so I have the right to kill you. Does this sentence stand up? It is necessary for some people in Japan to think about it.
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