Isoroku (film)

Isoroku[2][3][4] (Japanese: 聯合艦隊司令長官 山本五十六 – 太平洋戦争70年目の真実-, Hepburn: Rengō Kantai Shirei Chōkan: Yamamoto Isoroku – Taiheiyō Sensō Nanajūnenme no Shinjitsu–, Combined fleet commander Yamamoto Isoroku – Truth of the Pacific War 70 years ago) is a 2011 Japanese war drama film about Isoroku Yamamoto.

Isoroku
Film poster
Directed byIzuru Narushima
Produced byShōhei Kotaki
Written byYasuo Hasegawa
Kenzaburō Iida
StarringKōji Yakusho
Hiroshi Abe
Bandō Mitsugorō X
Music byTaro Iwashiro
Production
company
Bandai Visual, Toei,

Kinoshita Komuten, Watanabe Entertainment, Toei Video, TV Asahi, Hisashi Spirits, SBI Holdings, Broad Media Studio, Asahi Di Kay, Yoshida Masaki Office, Di Complex, Food Discovery, Ennet, Niigata, Niigata Niigata Broadcasting, Niigata Sogo, Television TV Niigata, Niigata Television 21, Yomiuri Shimbun, Sanyo Steel Industry, Aoi Corporation,

Destiny
Release date
  • 23 December 2011 (2011-12-23) (Japan)
Running time
140 min
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office$17,041,086[1]

Other names

Other English home media titles of the film are The Admiral,[5] and Admiral Yamamoto.[6][7][8] English titles not used in home video releases are Yamamoto Isoroku, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet[9] and Admiral Isoroku.[10]

Plot

The final 5 years of Isoroku Yamamoto's military career is shown through his family life. Yamamoto was a great naval strategist who climbed up the ranks in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Yamamoto was against many of the Imperial Japanese Army's decisions. He opposed the signing of the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy in 1939 and attempted to prevent the impending conflict with the United States amid World War II. This caused disdain from Japanese war hawks such as newspaper editor Kagekiyo Munakata (portrayed by Teruyuki Kagawa) and military officials. He was educated in the United States, aware of its strengths, and thought a war would be futile. His superiors increasingly pressured him to plan for a full-scale war with the US. Yamamoto was conflicted by his principles and duties. The Japanese military establishment entangles Yamamoto in the war and orders him to prepare the attack on Pearl Harbor. Yamamoto was obligated to carry out the orders as the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Imperial Navy's Combined Fleet. The film also follows the perspective of a Japanese A6M Zero aerial battalion, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway and finally to the American ambush of Yamamoto's Mitsubishi G4M.

Cast

Filming

The making of the film lasted four years.[11] Kōji Yakusho was reportedly the only actor considered for the role of Yamamoto and the film would have been canceled if he turned it down.[11] Yakusho was offered the role in the summer of 2009, and accepted the role in the winter of 2010. The production staff declared it intended to present an image of "what a Japanese leader should be".[11]

The movie was supervised by renowned historical scholar-writer Kazutoshi Hando.[12] The war movie intended to show the real image of Gensui Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet. It is a literary work. The award-winning director was Izuru Narushima.[12] The leading actor was Koji Yakusho.

It was published on 308 screens nationwide, the box office revenue reached ¥150,787,300 Yen. The mobilization reached 124,972 people in the first two days of December 24 and 25, 2011. It first appeared in the movie audience ranking (according to the box office news agency) it came in second place in Japan.[13]

In September 2012, more than half a year after its release in Japan, it was specially invited to the 36th Montreal World Film Festival.[14]

Under the supervision of Hando, he focused on the accuracy of the historical depiction, including the tableware of the ship. Ingenuity has been devised to depict personality and humanity, such as including scenes in which he liked water steamed buns (Mizumanju) and the traditional Japanese dessert Shiruko, which was not dealt with in other works with Yamamoto.

At the time of shooting, the Ministry of the Navy's government building (commonly known as red brick building) did not exist, so the main building of the Ministry of Justice, which has a similar appearance, was used for the location.

Music
Theme song "Makoto"
Song- Kei Ogura (Universal Music Group) / Lyrics- Kei Ogura / Composition-Takeo Kato, Masaru Suezaki Exhibition / Arrangement-Takeo Kato
Love theme "For whom the bell rings"
Song- Maki Changu (Vap) / Lyrics / Composition- Maki Changu / Arrangement- Jun Sato

Reception

Rob Schwartz from Metropolis described the film as a "well-paced and well-acted work", which "is not a bad watch for those interested in a Japanese view of the war".[10] Schwartz further noted that unlike the 1968 film with the same title, which "was a piece of propaganda", the 2011 film "doesn’t fall into that trap".[10] Ronnie Scheib from Variety characterised the film as "Izuru Narushima's well-crafted, rather old-fashioned and unquestioning elegy" to Yamamoto, which "succeeds where many biopics fail in fully integrating the private man and the public figure".[8] At the 36th Japan Academy Film Prize, Fumio Hashimoto won an award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Recording.[15] Kōji Yakusho was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.[15][16]

Manga

The manga version was serialized in "Grand Jump" (Shueisha), which was first published on November 16, 2011, from the first issue to the 17th issue (released on July 18, 2012). Supervision: Kazutoshi Hando, Drawing: Rem Sakakibara.

References
  1. "Rengô kantai shirei chôkan: Yamamoto Isoroku". Box Office Mojo. 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  2. "Isoroku (Blu-ray)". Blu-ray.com. 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  3. "Japanese minister expresses 'deep emotion' over 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attacks". The Telegraph. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  4. Schilling, Mark (7 January 2015). "Yamamoto Isoroku (Isoroku)". The Japan Times. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  5. "The Admiral (Blu-ray)". Blu-ray.com. 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  6. "Admiral Yamamoto (DVD) (Taiwan Version)". YesAsia. 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  7. Elley, Derek (1 March 2012). "Admiral Yamamoto". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  8. Scheib, Ronnie (11 September 2012). "Review: Admiral Yamamoto". Variety. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  9. Del Bene, Marco (2015). "A Past to be Ashamed Of or Proud Of?". In Kim-fai Tam; Timothy Y. Tsu; Sandra Wilson (eds.). Chinese and Japanese Films on the Second World War. London: Routledge. p. 171. ISBN 9781317650461. Retrieved 16 May 2016 – via Google Books.
  10. Schwartz, Rob (5 January 2012). "Rengo Kantai Shirei Chokan: Yamamoto Isoroku". Metropolis. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  11. "Yakusho Koji portrays WWII naval commander Yamamoto Isoroku". TokyoGraph. 14 May 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  12. "Isoroku (2011) (Blu-ray) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)". YesAsia. 1 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021.
  13. "『ミッション：インポッシブル』がクリスマスのランキングを制しV2！『けいおん！』は興収10億円突破！]シネマトゥデイ". 27 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019.
  14. "映画『聯合艦隊司令長官 山本五十六』第36回モントリオール世界映画祭 ワールド・グレイツ部門 正式上映!!". Cinematopics online. 5 September 2012. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  15. "Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021.
  16. 第36回日本アカデミー賞、優秀賞発表！最多受賞3作品の大混戦！ (in Japanese). Cinematoday Inc. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
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