Only the Brave

Plot synopsis:
In 1953, Jimmy Takata (Nishikawa) suffers from "battle fatigue" (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), to the great concern of his wife, Mary (Tomita). Raised in Hawaii, Takata and some of his friends enlisted in the 100th Battalion, serving in the European Theater of Operations. In a series of flashbacks, he remembers the war and events in his life surrounding it. Following a head injury, he begins to have visions, and believes that he is seeing memories of other men, including his friend Freddy Watada (Watanabe) as he courted Mary (who would later be Jimmy's wife) before entering the Army. Freddy receives a "million-dollar wound" (one which is serious enough to require evacuation to the United States, but not permanently disabling), and he shows Takata an engagement ring, purchased before being sent to Europe, which he intends to give Mary upon his return.
Takata's concern about the visions is dismissed as disorientation caused by the head wound by "Doc" Naganuma, the unit medic, a Medical Doctor who had likewise joined to help his friends. Takata also has a vision of his father, a Buddhist priest in Federal custody, and who tells him "You must accept your fate, here"—pointing to his head -- "the rest of you will follow, here," pointing to Takata's heart. Takata later learns that his father has died, 49 days earlier. Buddhists believe that a spirit will enter Heaven or be reborn 49 days after death.
When his unit is ordered to break through German lines and rescue the 141st Infantry Regiment, Takata is ordered by the doctor to stay in the rear area, due to his head wound. However, as the casualties mount, he defies orders and attempts to find a way through to the trapped men. He is joined by several of his men (including Freddy), who are also unwilling to wait in the rear as their friends face the danger. Asked by a newly transferred soldier if he's ever afraid, Takata confides that his fear is of losing more men.
Joining the rest of the Nisei, Takata and his men fight the Germans, as one-by-one Takata watches his men—nearly all of his friends—being killed in battle. Freddy throws his body on a grenade which had been thrown at Takata, and the men look into each other's eyes as it explodes.
The battle won, Takata accepts the thanks of the lieutenant commanding the rescued unit, and notes that 211 of the 275 had been saved, at a cost of over 800 casualties.
His thoughts return to 1953, where Mary's love and tears finally break through, and he is able to shed his own tears. A vision comes of his lost men and father, standing in the field hospital, and his father repeats his earlier encouraging statement.
Now Takata's vision comes of meeting with Mary after the war, and meeting Mary and Freddy's young daughter, Joanie. Joanie touches the scar on his temple, and as she smiles and looks into his eyes, he is reminded of a refugee girl that he had rescued in the battle which had resulted in the head wound. Takata gives Mary the engagement ring, and explains that, since Freddy had given his life to save Takata's, the least he could do is bring it home for her. He comforts her as she cries.
As that vision fades, we see Jimmy placing the keepsakes from each of his friends in a suitcase and closing it. Mary, sitting behind the wheel of a car, looks up and asks (hoping beyond hope) if he is okay. He looks at her, is able to smile, and says that he is.

Tags: violence

Review:
Containing Japanese-American volunteers from Hawaii and, remarkably, from out of the mainland interment camps, the 100th/442nd was sent to Europe."Only The Brave" is a fictionalized account of the 100th/442nd's most famous success: the October 1944 rescue of the "Lost Battalion", the all-white "Texas" 141st, trapped behind enemy lines deep within the Vosges Mountains of France.The movie opens during the battle for the town of Bruyeres, France.
After a receiving a head wound, Sergeant Jimmy Takata (played by the film's writer and director, Lane Nishikawa) begins to "see" the memories of his dying troops.
As they die, Takata also becomes a walking repository of their mementos: a signature pair of eyeglasses, a photograph of children, an engagement ring never given.Through the Bruyeres battle and the five bloody days of desperate fighting it takes to break through the German line and rescue the 141st, Nishikawa uses Sergeant Takata as a metaphor for the quiet and proud generation of Japanese-Americans who endured life in the relocation camps, who fought in battle and who kept up the home front, but who have mostly held onto their stories.
The realistic pidgin banter between the "local boy" Hawaiian Japanese and the exploration of the tensions between the Hawaiian Japanese and the mainland "kotonk" Japanese are products of character development and not just tossed in for "authenticity".Unlike many recent war films, there is little battle gore in "Only The Brave", making the infrequent bloody scenes that much more powerful.The cast, featuring Nishikawa, Jason Scott Lee, Yuji Okumoto and Tamlyn Tomita, turn in solid performances but Pat Morita's cameo was a little wonky for me."Only The Brave" will definitely be worth watching when it is finally released into theaters.
I recently saw Only the Brave, and I was very impressed!I had seen an earlier screening of this film, and although I had thought there were some very effective scenes, things didn't seem to flow together.
Well, it is obvious that the director and editor have been working hard because the version that I just saw was very tight and a huge improvement over what I saw a few months ago.I thought the combat scenes were very well done and they did a good job of conveying the amount of tension and fear that these soldiers must have been feeling.
I liked the art direction which did a good job of making this film a step back in time to a different era.I watched this screening along with my father who was a veteran of the 442.
Kudos to Lane Nishikawa and company for making a very important movie..
With all the renewed interest in World War II as this generation of men begin to pass from the scene, I can't believe there haven't been more films about the little- known exploits of this all-Japanese American 442nd RCT.
A great cast, including such Asian American luminaries like Jason Scott Lee, Mark Dacascos, Tamlyn Tomita, Pat Morita (maybe his last performance), and others, along with a scrupulous attention to detail - weapons, uniforms, etc.
The script's basic theme - that each of these men were more than just soldiers, they each had families, loved ones, reasons to live - magnify the tragedy of each death, so this film not only honors and glorifies these men's accomplishments, it also serves as a meditation on the true cost of war.
It's a shame that the film didn't get a wide-spread release because every American should know about the sacrifices the men of the 100th IN Battalion / 442nd RCT made to protect our nation and bring freedom to the people of Europe.
I know what a touchy thing it is for Soldiers when someone tells them that they are heroes, because they were doing their job, but the men this film depicts truly were American heroes, risking and in many cases sacrificing their lives in defense of a nation that had turned against them and their families.
However, the writer-director has earned my respect for preserving this part of history on film.
Lane, the director, was kind enough to field questions from the audience after the screening and learning how they did this on a shoe-string budget made the film even more impressive to me.
I am a great lover of the WWII film genre and have to say that this is the worse one I have ever seen, if it was on very late night on TV and I flicked it on, it would be flicked of pretty quick - unfortunately i bought the DVD so felt i had to watch it to the end - which I did with a lot of fast forwarding - it won't be watched again.I think they tried to bring you in along the lines of "getting to know the men" by flash backs to their live before joining up - i don't need to see this every five minutes, either put the "family" part at the start or don't bother.
the music was so "TV film" i almost laughed but i couldn't as i had paid money out - the battle scenes where non existent barring in mind this is supposed to focus on the battle which suffered the loss of nearly half of its roster—over 800 casualties, including 121 dead—while rescuing 211 members of the 36th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 141st Infantry, which had been surrounded by German forces in the Vosges mountains since 24 October..
This movie was very eye-opening for anyone that hasn't experienced or looked into the Japanese during the time they were put into internment camps.There are some great action scenes but also slow scenes...
they all intermix and show the lives of the people fighting in an American War. I thought this movie was very moving and touching but very slow at some points where the point was made and needed to move on.
I would recommend this movie to anyone willing to learn about cultural differences between Americans and Japanese-Americans..
I really wanted to like this movie, even though seeing the bad reviews and grades, but I'm sorry to say I just couldn't.
I have my roots in Finland, and therefore I have the same relationship to Finnish movies about the Winter war and Continuation war (btw something to take a look at for anyone interested in WWII, to see some of the least discussed but most astonishing military wonders of all times - a tiny Little poorly equipped army in a tiny little country, literally crushing the USSR Bear), as I suppose Asian Americans have to this movie, since it portrays a part of the US Army which seldom have gotten any recognition for their efforts and sacrifice.
(Also see "Days of glory", a rather good movie about the Algerian French soldiers in the French army during WWII - Another "forgotten" Group).I also have a great interest and fair insight into different Asian cultures due to both personal interest and having several Asian in-laws in the family.
Nothing is subtle nor actually touching, since the director has drenched it all in banality and cheap clichés.The acting is horrible and over dramatic overall, and leaves one with an uncomfortable feeling of embarrassment on the behalf of both the actors and the characters.
I would even say that the characters, in a way, mock and ridicule Asian Americans, and place the whole group in an old and clichéd POV.
Which is both sad and frustrating.The depiction of battle and warfare is badly acted, but mainly badly planned and executed by the director, giving an air of boys playing war at a paint-ball field, rather than actually being at the western front.
And that's irritating since this forgotten part of WWII-history is a very interesting one, and a movie made by a good director, with a good script and screenplay, with good actors, could have made it a see worthy pearl of a flick, instead of a pathetic puddle of syrup.
:( I can't even recommend it to anyone except maybe descendants of the Asian American soldiers from the US troops of WWII.
See something good instead.Sad to say, because I so much would have wanted to like this.But Lane Nishikawa kind of fu*ed up.
I felt the movie resembled more of a play than a feature film; this shouldn't come as a surprise since Lane Nishikawa's background is in theater.
Overall, the acting in the film is good, and there are a handful of effective dramatic scenes.
I think Only The Brave is a worth a look for anyone with a special interest in Japanese American history..
Acting was pale, action was boring, and flashbacks were just waste of budged money of the movie.
I was half way through, and bored out of my mind, I was fast forwarding the movie, hoping to see some action, that simply was not there.
This story should be retold, by another more competent director.It is also not clear, where exactly they are, the only thing that it was told, was that they are saving some other American unit.
The accents etc are very poor as this unit is supposed to be Hawaiian/Asian American but everyone speaks in a very poor take on Harvard English imitation of a Japanese person.I gave this film 3 out of 10 as after 10 minutes I couldn't watch any more of it.
You got a sense the director had seen band of brothers and thought that that was enough to sell his movie.
The easy way to look at this movie is to see the courage and determination of those guys to save the Texas battalion from complete destruction.
I have always felt strongly that the story of Americans of Japanese ancestry needed to be told, at least regarding those issues during the WWII era.
I intensely dislike using hyphenated terms, but for this review I think it's necessary The courage of Japanese American troops during WWII can not be disputed - their records stands for itself.
Usually their wartime story revolves around their service in Europe, but many Japanese Americans also served in the Pacific theater.This film did a fine job of depicting their war time sacrifices, and likewise some of their conflicted emotions regarding the treatment being meted out to their families back home.
My only problem with this movie, and normally this is not an issue, was the fact that many of the parts were played by people who were not Japanese Americans.
I plan on purchasing this film so that I can watch it again.Frankly, I get almost sick to my stomach each time I watch movies of this type depicting Japanese Americans and how they were treated.
Although, I appreciate that the director made a movie about the men of 442nd - a subject matter that long deserved addressing in the film industry - the acting in some parts of film was quite stale.
However, the director should have NEVER put himself as the main character in the movie.
The Japanese-American soldiers don't look like they were fighting German soldiers...
Granted this was a low budget feature, but since this was a war-based film, isn't it important to show some actually fighting?
I began this movie with having no info about the real history behind it, only knowing that it is based on true events and I hoped to learn something new by watching Only The Brave.
Low budget, yes, but considering the current standards for realism and this movie was made in 2006, it doesn't make it any more appealing to the crowd that watches war movies just for the bang and spatter.That said, it's a wonderful thing this film was made at all.
"Only the Brave" told the story of an aspect of World War II that I had no idea ever happened.
And as such, then this movie really had an impact on me and my understanding of World War II.This truly was the tale of forgotten heroes in World War II, and it is a movie that should be seen by anyone who has an interest in the events of World War II.The story told in "Only the Brave" is about the 100th/442nd infantry battalion in the American army; a battalion which were Japanese-American soldiers.
This battalion had to prove their worth in the African, Italian and France campaigns of World War II.I will say that the story was nicely told, with a good amount of action, but also with a fair amount of character development and some nice and touching moments for some of the characters when they were reminiscing or during their final moments.
And people did great jobs with their given roles, both soldier and civilian roles alike."Only the Brave" really blindsided me and genuinely surprised me in a way I had never seen coming.
My family was sent to the internment camps after Executive Order 9066 was signed by FDR, and their experiences mirror those of the men in the film.
Three of my Mother's uncles served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, one of them earning a Bronze Star with Valor Device during the same mission portrayed in the film while serving as a Combat Medic.A subject I wish they had touched on during the film was the degrading 'loyalty tests' that Active Military personal of Japanese Decent were forced to take after Pearl Harbor, as one of the aforementioned uncles was subject to those as a member of the US Army Garrison in Hawaii at the time.
A few scenes really would have worked better in a stage production then a feature film, and some of the scenes seemed to have an out of place dream-like quality.
Who all, like myself, had a deep personal connection to the story being told.
Hopefully 'Only the Brave' will be the first of many more films to highlight the sacrifice and heroism of these men who were told they weren't Americans, then proved their government wrong in the most spectacular way possible..
The movie honors, as we all should, this special group of men who fought and died for us in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor.
A rare insight into the war from the perspective of Japanese Americans.
Just for being of a certain country's origin - Then made to fight for their country.With pretty much an all Asian cast its a well crafted work which looks great with a superb sound design and a visual treat.Try and get to see it if you can..
A worthy, craftsman-like tribute to the Japanese-American heroes of WWII..
Members of the segregated Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team, "cold, wet, weary and battle-scarred," rescued 211 Texas National Guardsmen who were surrounded by German forces in the foggy, wooded Vosges Mountains near Bruyeres, France.
After three days of devastating battle, nearly half the Japanese-American troops were dead or wounded and the "Lost Battalion" was still trapped."Then, something happened in the 442nd," according to the military historians.
Finally, the enemy broke in disorder." It is this story that is at the heart of "Only the Brave," Writer/Director Lane Nishikawa's very personal film of uncommon courage, misguided prejudice and family love now playing at the Hawaii International Film Festival.
It is Nishikawa's final film in a trilogy ("Sound of a Voice," 2003; "Forgotten Valor," 2001) dealing with the experience of Japanese-Americans in the Second World War. The multi-talented auteur, who has performed in a number of films but is best known as a stage actor and director, had four uncles and other extended family members who served in the 442nd or the earlier 100th Infantry Battalion (formed as the Hawaiian Provisional Battalion).Instead of taking the wide-angle battle scene approach of a Wolfgang Peterson ("Troy"), Ridley Scott ("Kingdom of Heaven"), Oliver Stone ("Alexander') or even Steven Spielberg ("Saving Private Ryan"), Nishikawa has narrowed his focus to the points of view of his own small "band of brothers." Included in that number are Sergeant Jimmy Takata, played with grace and wisdom by the director, Glenn "Tak" Takase (Jason Scott Lee), Richard "Doc" Naganuma (Ken Narasaki), Steve "Zaki" Senzaki (Mark Dacascos), Yukio "Yuk" Nakajo (Yugi Okumoto) and Richard "Hilo" Imamura (Garett Sato).
Nishikawa shows us war just the way a soldier sees war.He also shows us, through flashbacks, the personal side of the war on the home front.
"Doc" Naganuma's wife and baby awaiting his return in an internment camp where 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry (70,000 of whom were native-born United States citizens) sat out the war in conditions not much better than POWs. Mary Takata's (Tamlyn Tomita) struggle to reach her shell-shock husband after the peace.
(The dialogue is realistically grounded in the Pidgin English common to Hawaii-born people, and the banter between the soldiers sounds like something you would hear among a group of guys having a beer after work in a Wahiawa, Hawaii tavern.) The film is not without its flaws, some of them a function of the production's limited budget.
Watching your own dailies can be a major growing experience.But it is a powerful and sensitive piece of work that should be seen by far more than just the California school kids who use the director's earlier films as part of their history curriculum.Those of us who live in Hawaii understand the context of this film.
The black and white film was heavily focused on Grayson, who loses his prejudices when he sees how the Japanese Americans fight in combat..
It tells the story of Japanese-American troops fighting on the side of America against Japan during the Second World War. It's not an original subject matter, because they'd done similar films since the 1950s, but I was more than happy to check out the story as told for a new generation.Sadly, this turns out not to be a war film at all, but rather an overworked melodrama.
It's a pity, as the casting director has assembled plenty of familiar Asian-American and Hawaiaan actors, including action stalwarts like Mark Dacascos and Jason Scott Lee, alongside Greg Watanabe and Kenneth Choi.