A personal view.
My wife's father was captured by the Japanese in 1941. He was with a university air squadron on the southern tip of Malaya (Malaysia). The planes and most airman flew off after Singapore fell but there were too few spaces. He remained with others, their job to destroy equipment and then surrender. He was the only one of those remaining who survived the war.
He carried the scars for the rest of his life, reliving the experiences as he was dying of cancer 45 years after the war ended.
He suffered considerable mental trauma, now it would have been called post traumatic stress. In what was probably a mistake, the family never talked of it with him. It was done with the best intentions of course, but the opening of this film struck a bit of a cord.
I got on well with the chap at first and I was, I discovered, the only person he discussed his experiences with. He worked on building a road and was never questioned by the kempeitai. His guards were Koreans, but he was tortured. His legs were a mass of scars, really quite horrific to see, and I was told he had other injuries. But the physical scars were by no means the worst.
He was walking to the work detail one day when a guard attacked the chap in front of him, bayoneting him to death, for no reason.
One day in 1945 the guards left and a little later he was liberated. However, he did not know his name, where he lived, or even his nationality.
He returned with many problems, as you would expect, and these affected his family, my wife especially. Much as she loved him, he was unpredictable and she was scared of his temper, although he never harmed her in any way. He knew his effect on his children, he told me, but was unable to do anything about it. He was torturing himself about it, something that was not his fault.
I was worried about showing this film to my wife. I knew of Lomax's story, and had been heartened by it, but the horrific nature of the way her father had been treated might have been too much for her.
We both cried. The 'message' sent by Lomax's friend was heart-rending, and true of course. Really quite shocking.
My wife and I will never watch it again but I am pleased we saw it together. She feels she understands her father more.
The saddest thing is that we have not learned. We blame the Japanese and the Germans, but both Americans and the British have tortured in recent years. All in the name of security of course. But those who have been waterboarded no doubt have wives and children who will also suffer. They will also have scars. We are not pristine.
The saddest thing about this film is that torture and ill-treatment of prisoners will continue.
I've given the film a top score as it was, for me, one of the most important films for my family that I have seen in many years. It should be important to you as well.
Forgive is the important message. We should also remember but without rancour or blame. The Japanese are just like us and that is our shared tragedy.
My wife's father was captured by the Japanese in 1941. He was with a university air squadron on the southern tip of Malaya (Malaysia). The planes and most airman flew off after Singapore fell but there were too few spaces. He remained with others, their job to destroy equipment and then surrender. He was the only one of those remaining who survived the war.
He carried the scars for the rest of his life, reliving the experiences as he was dying of cancer 45 years after the war ended.
He suffered considerable mental trauma, now it would have been called post traumatic stress. In what was probably a mistake, the family never talked of it with him. It was done with the best intentions of course, but the opening of this film struck a bit of a cord.
I got on well with the chap at first and I was, I discovered, the only person he discussed his experiences with. He worked on building a road and was never questioned by the kempeitai. His guards were Koreans, but he was tortured. His legs were a mass of scars, really quite horrific to see, and I was told he had other injuries. But the physical scars were by no means the worst.
He was walking to the work detail one day when a guard attacked the chap in front of him, bayoneting him to death, for no reason.
One day in 1945 the guards left and a little later he was liberated. However, he did not know his name, where he lived, or even his nationality.
He returned with many problems, as you would expect, and these affected his family, my wife especially. Much as she loved him, he was unpredictable and she was scared of his temper, although he never harmed her in any way. He knew his effect on his children, he told me, but was unable to do anything about it. He was torturing himself about it, something that was not his fault.
I was worried about showing this film to my wife. I knew of Lomax's story, and had been heartened by it, but the horrific nature of the way her father had been treated might have been too much for her.
We both cried. The 'message' sent by Lomax's friend was heart-rending, and true of course. Really quite shocking.
My wife and I will never watch it again but I am pleased we saw it together. She feels she understands her father more.
The saddest thing is that we have not learned. We blame the Japanese and the Germans, but both Americans and the British have tortured in recent years. All in the name of security of course. But those who have been waterboarded no doubt have wives and children who will also suffer. They will also have scars. We are not pristine.
The saddest thing about this film is that torture and ill-treatment of prisoners will continue.
I've given the film a top score as it was, for me, one of the most important films for my family that I have seen in many years. It should be important to you as well.
Forgive is the important message. We should also remember but without rancour or blame. The Japanese are just like us and that is our shared tragedy.
Tell Your Friends