I enjoyed this movie

Rating: 9/10 (28 March 2005)

Being fascinated by the WWII Pacific front, as well as by the British century of Asian colonial rule, I enjoyed this romanced historical drama about a boy weaving his way through the nightmare of Japanese occupation of China and its foreign concessions, with military aviation in the backdrop. I find great worth in the childish point of view--actually bordering on puberty--used to tell the story here, as one is thus better seated into the skin of the protagonist. I find the often human depiction of the Japanese refreshing and representative of historical reality: I assume many of them believed in their God-given mission to rid the East of the foreign exploiters and take their place as masters of Asia and the Pacific, long live the Emperor! Never mind Manichean good-guy/bad-guy dichotomy: Wounded Knee, Mi Lai, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanomo Bay should be enough to convince us that war is an ugly, messy, amoral affair, no matter who started, who wins, and who History places in the Right. Regarding this picture, I identified with the interned foreigners and was left reflecting on how anyone, even the most privileged and educated today, can be brought to wrestle for a ration and "kill for a potato". Spielberg magic at work here.