A Bitter Legacy (2016)

A Bitter Legacy is a documentary film which premiered in 2016. The topic is the internment of the Japanese-Americans during World War Two. Here is some basic information about this film:

** Director: Claudia Katayanagi

** Language: English

** Available on Blu-ray disc and via Amazon Prime Video

** Run time: ca. 75 minutes

The film is divided into three sections:

** PART ONE is short. It runs for ca. five minutes. This part covers the Japanese-Americans during the time before World War Two: the four decades from 1900 to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

** PART TWO is the main part of the film. It runs for ca. 60 minutes. This part covers the Japanese-Americans during World War Two when many of them (more than 100,000) were placed in internment camps: the time from 1942 to 1946.

** PART THREE is short. It runs for ca. 10 minutes. This part covers the Japanese-Americans during the time after the end of World War Two: from 1945-1946 to the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Many persons are interviewed in this film. They can be divided into two groups:

# 1. In the first group we have several Japanese-Americans who were young children or teenagers during the war when they were sent to the camps. Japanese-Americans who were adults during the war are no longer alive. I will not mention the names here, because the list is too long.

# 2. In the second group we have some academic experts, mostly historians, who have studied this topic and who have written books and articles about it. I will mention all names here, because the list is not too long. For each name (except one) I will add the title of a book that is relevant:

** Roger Daniels, author of Prisoners without Trial: Japanese-Americans in World War II (1993, second edition 2004)

** Arthur A. Hansen, author of Manzanar Martyr: An Interview with Harry Ueno (1986)

** Tetsuden Kashima, author of Judgment without Trial: Japanese-American Imprisonment during World War II (1995)

** Eric L. Muller, author of American Inquisition: The Hunt for Japanese-American Disloyalty in World War II (2007)

** Greg Robinson, author of By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese-Americans (2001)

** Eileen Tamura, author of In Defense of Justice: Joseph Kurihara and the Japanese-American Struggle for Equality (2013)

** Wayne Merrill Collins, attorney, is the son of attorney Wayne Mortimer Collins (1899-1974) who worked on several cases related to the internment of the Japanese-Americans

When these people give their statements, we see them, but this film is more than talking heads. We see them, but not the whole time. After a while, the faces disappear and the account is illustrated by old photos of the people or the places they are talking about and by historical documents or reports from which they are quoting.

In other words: the film offers evidence which supplements and supports the statements made by these people.

What do reviewers say about this film? 

 

On IMDb it has a rating of 84 per cent, which corresponds to a rating of 4.2 stars on Amazon.

 

On Amazon there are nine ratings, four with reviews. The average rating is five stars (100 percent). 

 

Here are the headlines of the four reviews:

 

** Disturbing and true

** Learned some new things

** An important documentary

** Everyone needs to see this

 

I understand the positive reviews and I agree with them. 

 

Why?

 

(1) This film is a work of art. 

 

(2) The topic is covered very well and in great detail. 

 

(3) The people who are interviewed are well-chosen:

 

** The Japanese-Americans have interesting and remarkable stories to tell.

** The academic experts explain the legal and the political aspects of the internment in clear language that is easy to understand. 

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

PS # 1. The film includes a dramatic clip from the 1976 television movie Farewell to Manzanar, based on the book Farewell to Manzanar which was published in 1973.

This book is written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (born 1934) and her husband James D. Houston (1933-2009).

PS # 2. Some important vocabulary: three Japanese words which are often used in connection with this topic:

** ISSEI = The first generation, born in Japan, immigrated to the US, usually before 1914. The law does not allow them to become citizens. Most members of this group speak only Japanese.

The US authorities does not trust this group. They suspect that many of them are loyal to the Japanese emperor.

** NISEI = The second generation, born in the US, usually between the two world wars, and therefore citizens of the US. Most members of this group are fluent in Japanese and English.

The US authorities tend to trust this group. They regard most of them as loyal US citizens.

** KIBEI = Also the second generation, also born in the US, usually between the two world wars, and therefore also citizens of the US. When they were teenagers, their parents sent them to Japan to study Japanese language and culture. Once they had completed their studies, they returned to the US. Most members of this group are fluent in Japanese and English.

The US authorities do not trust this group. They suspect that many of them are loyal to the Japanese emperor. They are seen as troublemakers.

PS # 3. The following interview with the director is available online: California Film Institute, Interview with A Bitter Legacy’s Claudia Katayanagi, 29 March 2017.

*****

 

 

Farewell to Manzanar 

(first published 1973)

 

(reprinted 1983 and 2017)

*****