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| Screen capture from the video below |
I watched it on Amazon Prime last weekend and was enthralled from the opening scene (which may have been lifted from another film about the battleship Yamato, I'm not sure). I thought for sure that I'd found a movie I'd been hunting for (the aforementioned Yamato) but instead found a gem involving mathematics and a fictionalized telling of the tale of how the mighty Yamato came to be.
For those of you lost at this point, here's a bit of background -
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| Yamato during sea trials |
Yamato (大和) was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi (武蔵), were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing nearly 72,000 tonnes (71,000 long tons) at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) Type 94 main guns, which were the largest guns ever mounted on a warship. (Source)
I've always found battleships amazing, I've been aboard two, USS Alabama (BB-60) and USS Massachusetts (BB-59), Yamato, being the biggest of her kind (though her sister ship Musashi was slightly bigger) of course got my attention as a kid. I even had a model of her.
So the film's subject matter, ...
(which) is a 2019 Japanese historical film about the building of the battleship Yamato. Based on a manga by Norifusa Mita, the movie is a fictionalized telling of the political maneuvers, specifically around budget and cost issues, that led to the decision to build the Yamato. The movie was dubbed into various languages and distributed worldwide. (Source)
... really got my attention. I was entertained throughout. The machinations of the Japanese admirals (battleship guys versus carrier guys) and the math involved was far different from my usual fare. Here's the trailer -
I highly recommend it!
(Available on YouTube as well, here. The quality is very good, be sure to turn on the subtitles, the movie is in Japanese.)
Go, enjoy.
Be back tomorrow and we'll see if the Muse has anything for us.
Ciao!
Good timing for today's post Sarge with a movie link considering the next five days here will be in the mid to high nineties.
ReplyDeleteNylon,
DeleteSo...A cold spell?
Asking for a friend.
juvat
Nylon12 - Sounds "pleasant."
Deletejuvat - Don't know how all you guys manage down there living on the surface of the sun, er, I mean, in Texas.
Deletejuvat- Yah, for you folks that would be a cold spell but here in the Northland.....uff da........:)
DeleteNo one expects that kinda weather in the northern tier states this late in the year. Don't worry you'll probably get a few -30s this winter to balance things out!
DeleteI don't think I've ever seen a model of her before, just photos of her in the water. My first impression as I quickly scrolled past the photo was, "What an odd looking submarine!" because of the general shape of the hull - sharply pointed, and the rounded shape in the middle. Then I scrolled back up and really looked at the picture. And thought, "What an odd shape for a battleship!"
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation.
She had very handsome lines.
DeleteDumb question - how effective were those, for want of a better term, "aiming officers" with their white or striped sticks?
ReplyDeleteI had that some thought myself/
DeleteIt is an attention grabber. Works for mortar crews, land gun crews, why not with naval crews. Allows quick reaction for gross aiming and thus saves time for fine aiming. It's one of those touchy-feely things that work with humans well.
DeletePlus, who doesn't want to have a striped or white stick as an officer?
Never saw a mortar team or gun crew use that sort of thing. But who knows, we humans do like shiny things. (Striped counts as shiny right?)
DeleteThanks, Beans. In my untrained mind it just seems to me that the gun crew would be more focused on the stuff in the air than a guy waving a shiny stick.
DeleteI'm watching the movie now. Interesting opening scene. Gun crews screaming, grimacing, yelling at each other. Very interesting. In all the footage I've seen of the anti-aircraft gun crews , they go about their jobs fairly stoically. No panic, no grimacing, maybe a little shouting to get information passed along, but not mindless yelling.
Mortars, especially small ones, can easily be aimed using hand or stick gestures. Up, down, left, right, swing the gun tube to here, things like that are easily transmitted by simple gestures.
DeleteAs to AAA guns, all you have to do is get the attention of the aimer or the guy helping the aimer.
DeleteMortar and artillery crews often use aiming stakes, pointing to lay the gun isn't very efficient. As these are also indirect fire weapons, what is the crew leader pointing at? Lots and lots of math involved with artillery, pointing sticks might be fun, but I've only ever seen that in Japanese movies about the Yamato. More research is required.
DeleteWow Sarge! I have never heard of it. Super cool. Interesting that it is a Japanese associated movie on WW II.
ReplyDeleteIf I recall correctly (quickly runs out and checks - I did), the sister ship of the Yamato and the Musashi, the Shinano, was converted to an aircraft carrier and then sunk in 1944 by a US Submarine.
(Movie weekend is planned. After years of getting used copies that always skipped, I finally broke down and bought a new copy of 300 - with the partner movie 300: Rise of An Empire. Yes, I know it is historical-fu, but I have a secret love of such things).
Yes, Shinano was converted to a carrier. She went down ten days after her commissioning, on her way to Kure to finish fitting out. That was her only action.
DeleteJust goes to show what happens when you sail a major warship without watertight doors.
DeleteRetired
Not recommended!
DeleteOne of the stories in Ned Beach's great book "Submarine!" was how ARCHERFISH (or Archer-Fish, as she was originally christened) sank SHINANO ... I did watch "Archimedes" tonight, in Japanese with subtitles, and enjoyed it.
DeleteEntertaining wasn't it?
DeleteA naval historian named Drachnifel has a very good youtube video about the Yamato's final kamikaze mission to Okinawa. https://youtu.be/xCkfPeMls7s?si=8Rfcu_kA06utg5_2
ReplyDeleteI subscribe to his channel. Thanks for the link, I haven't seen that one.
DeleteSarge, thanks for the tip. I've seen this one floating about (NPI) on Prime but extended dialogue in Japanese put me off. I think I will turn on subtitles and have this with breakfast in the morning. (I did enjoy the 2019 "Midway" film, hope this meets or exceeds it.)
ReplyDeleteI also spotted the actor who portrayed Nagumo in the 2019 Midway film in this trailer ...
DeleteAny mouse - I do believe you can run the film in English as well. For those who have to be in the right mood to read subtitles. (Like me.)
DeleteRickr - Yeah, I thought I recognized that guy!
DeleteI've seen clips from a movie about the Yamato. Very well done. Then there's also clips about making the movie and the full-sized set for the superstructure so they can kill everyone. The planes are hokey, but everything else is good.
ReplyDeleteThere's a good 20+ minute clip on YouTube from that film. The aircraft are really hokey, they turn on a dime.
DeleteBut I love the way they show things from the Japanese perspective.
Thanks for the tip. I enjoyed the movie.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere in Japan is a large scale replication of the Yamato
I found it!
Kure Maritime Museum, has the largest model of the famous WW2 battleship Yamato in existence. The museum claims to record the maritime history of Kure, but since it started as a naval yard most of the displays centered on naval ships.
Wow! That's quite a model, really magnificent. Photos of it (and other cool things, like a Zero!) can be seen here.
DeleteThanks, Gerry!