We had one of our occasional (Girls’ Night In)s on the weekend. This little diversion originally began with just J and I but has now expanded to include The Wast and Little Dinosaur. At a minimum, the following is required:

* a good movie

* a bottle of wine

* snacks

* beauty products

Since we’re war movie buffs, we decided on “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and a bottle of Italian Lambrusco. For snacks, we had a big container of jackfruit. And, for beauty products, we had orange-scented body lotion and a choice of cucumber or clay face masks. The kids took it in turn to lie down while I rubbed body lotion into their arms and legs, giving them a slight massage while I did it. Little Dinosaur declared it “very relaxing, Mama”, thus confirming that she’s going to be a spa junkie when she gets older. The Wast, being all boyish and stoic, only giggled slightly but couldn’t wait for his turn with the cucumber peel-off face mask.

Then we sat back and watched Admiral Yamamoto ( Soh Yamamura) struggle with orders that conflicted with his own superior strategic sense. Twentieth Century Fox must have remastered the movie because the picture is crystal sharp. And I didn’t have to worry too much about the white subtitles appearing on the white uniforms of the Japanese Navy, as I have in the past. There were only two spots when the first word or so was washed out. Other than that, reading the subtitles — for once — was a pleasure. As I’ve always been a James Whitmore fan, I was delighted with his portrayal of Admiral Halsey. The screenplay (written separately by Larry Forrester for the US bits, and Hideo Oguni and Ryuzo Kikushima for the Japanese bits) was quick, interesting and seamless. Although J disagrees, I thought Yamamoto’s final remark about wakening a sleeping giant (meaning the United States) was the perfect point to end the movie.

Although it’s almost two and a half hours long, I felt the time just sped by and I remain more impressed with the movie now than when I did when I first saw it.

The only problems I had with Tora! Tora! Tora! are purely of a personal nature. While I recognise the obvious intelligence of Yamamoto, the humanity of Fuchida and the brilliant quirkiness of “Ghandi” (one of the major stategists), I can’t help but think of the East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and the fact that, to this day, Japan has never apologised for the blood it shed across China and south-east Asia.

However, in all honesty, I have to say that if I was a Japanese strategist, I wouldn’t have attacked the Americans at Pearl Harbour. So what if the Japanese rampaged up and down the east Asian coastline? Nobody would’ve cared. Not the British, the French, the Dutch or the Americans. If the Allies were willing to sell out their fellow pale-skinned European allies to Joseph Stalin, why should they have cared about millions of brown-skinned natives being beheaded by a superficially sophisticated and supposedly honour-bound race? In fact, considering history, I think the Allies would have preferred to deal with one strongman in the region, rather than have to reconcile the contrary bickering of several smaller nations.

And, for Japan, I think if they had even tried to live up to the rhetoric of the Co-Prosperity Sphere, we might all still be part of the Japanese Union now. But, of course, with Japan’s idiotic view of themselves of the Master Race — and the sadistic mindset that goes along with such craziness — the idea of a cooperative union spanning a huge fraction of the Asian continent was doomed to failure. I’m reminded of Pramoedya Toer’s slim volume, The Fugitive, in this regard. (You can read my 2008 review of the book here.) So, opportunities lost, and I can’t say I’m unhappy about that, but it still bears some reflection.

Girls Night In: 10/10

Tora! Tora! Tora!: 9/10