Persona Non Grata (2015)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Persona Non Grata is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered in 2015. 

 

The main character is the Japanese diplomat Chiune “Sempo” Sugihara (1900-1986) who has been described as the Japanese Oskar Schindler. This biopic covers his life and career from the 1930s to the 1960s.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Director: Cellin Gluck

** Writers: Tetsuro Kamata and Hiromichi Matsuo

** Available on DVD

** The soundtrack has two options: (1) A Japanese version (2) A German version - some dialogue is in English!

** Subtitles: German (turn on – turn off)

** Run time: 133 minutes

 

The cast includes the following:

 

** Toshiaki Karasawa as Chiune “Sempo” Sugihara (1900-1986) – Japanese diplomat - consul in Lithuania 1939-1940

** Koyuki as Yukiko Sugihara (1913-2008) – his wife

** Agnieszka Grochowska as Irina – a secret agent (born in Russia, living in exile)

** Fumiyo Kohinata as Oshima – the Japanese ambassador in Germany

** Cezary Lukaszewicz as Wolfgang Gudze – Sugihara’s assistant at the consulate in Kaunas 1939-1940

** Michal Zurawsky as Nyiszli (Yehoshua Nishri) – a visa applicant

** Zbigniew Zamachowski as Avraham Goehner - a businessman in Lithuania

** Andrzej Blumenfeld as Chaim Rosenthal – a Polish refugee in Lithuania

** Takashi Tsukamoto as Kingo Minamikawa – an officer in the Japanese Army

** Gaku Hamada as Tatsuo Osako – captain of a Japanese ship which sails from Vladivostok to Japan

** Wenanty Nosul as Jan Zwartendijk – Dutch consul in Lithuania 1939-1940

** Kenichi Takito as Ichirou Sekimitsu – an official at the Japanese ministry of foreign affairs

** Satoshi Nikaido as Saburo Nei (1902-1992) – Japanese consul in Vladivostok

** Borys Szyc as Pesh – Sugihara’s driver in Lithuania

 

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. Therefore, I feel free to mention some of them in this review.

 

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events.

 

Not everything happened exactly as shown here. Some details may have been added or changed or excluded for practical reasons or dramatic purposes. But the basic story is true.

 

THE PLOT

A stated above, this drama covers the life and career of Chiune “Sempo” Sugihara from the 1930s to the 1960s.

 

The opening scene is set in Tokyo in 1955. A sign on the façade of the building tells us that this is the ministry of foreign affairs. Inside, two persons are talking.

 

An unidentified visitor is asking questions about Chiune Sugihara. An unidentified official, who works for the ministry, explains that he does not know anything about a man called Sugihara and the ministry has no record of a man with this name, neither in the past nor the present.

 

The visitor is confused and disappointed. He cannot believe what he is told. He says: “Sempo was the Japanese consul in Lithuania in 1940. He gave me a visa. He saved my life. Without this visa, I would not be alive today.”

 

The official says the meeting is over: “I am afraid I must ask you to leave.” The official is polite, but firm and clearly annoyed by the visitor and his questions about Sugihara.

 

The visitor has to leave the building without any answers to his questions. His search for Sugihara must continue.

 

When the opening scene ends, the story jumps more than twenty years back in time. An on-screen message says the year is 1934 and the location is Manchuria (which the Japanese government has renamed Manchukuo). We see Sugihara for the first time.

 

From this moment in time, the story follows a chronological line, stopping at significant moments in Sugihara’s life and career:

 

1934 = he is in Manchuria

1935 = he is in Tokyo

1939 – 1940 = he is in Kaunas, Lithuania

1941 = he is in East Prussia

1943–1945 = he is in Bucharest, Romania

1968 = he is in Moscow, the Soviet Union

 

The time when Sugihara is the Japanese consul in Lithuania has a prominent place in the story of his life and career.

 

During the final days before Soviet soldiers force him to close his consulate, he issues more than 2,100 Japanese transit visas to Jewish refugees, primarily from Poland, even though he does not have permission to do this. 

 

He violates the rules and regulations. But his action saves ca. 6,000 Jews from the Holocaust in Europe.

 

RATINGS AND REVIEWS

What do reviewers say about this historical drama?

 

On IMDb it has a rating of 65 percent which corresponds to 3.3 stars on Amazon.

 

On Amazon there are at the moment five global ratings and three global reviews. The average rating is 3.7 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 74 percent.

 

What do I think? I have mixed feelings about this movie. The story of Sugihara is important and deserves to be told, but this biopic is not a successful account of his life and career.

 

What is wrong?

 

Some parts are good, while others are not so good. Some scenes are easy to understand, because they are well done, while others are hard to follow, because they are not well done.

 

When I read the reviews of this movie, I can see that some reviewers feel the same way as I do.

 

** A reviewer on Amazon says: “There are a few hard-to-follow parts in the opening.”

 

** In a review posted on ToHo Kingdom, Nicholas Driscoll says: “There are a few action sequences that seem out of place…  These action scenes felt wrong to me, awkward, unnecessary.”

 

THE FLAWS

Here are some examples to illustrate my point:

 

# 1. When the story jumps back to 1934, we are on a train rolling though Manchuria or Manchukuo. One man is chasing another man. Who are they? There is no information, but after a while, we realize that the man who is being chased is Sugihara and the man who is chasing him is a Soviet secret agent.

 

Sugihara is caught and trapped. But just before he is shot by the Soviet agent, he is saved by a female agent whose name is Irina. Who is she? Where does she come from? And why does she save Sugihara? There is no information. Why does the Soviet agent want to kill him? There is no information.

 

# 2. Also in 1934, there is a scene where two steam locomotives are approaching each other in the night. Suddenly, there is a shoot-out on the ground, next to the locomotives; some people drop dead, while others survive. Who is shooting and why? There is no information.

 

Why does the director give us such scenes, when he does not tell us what is going on and who is who?

 

The origin of the trouble seems to be the sale of a railway in Manchuria. Who is selling and who is buying and why is this sale of a railway so controversial that some people have to die for it? The director offers next to no information to help the viewer answer these and other relevant questions.

 

Here is what the director does not tell us about the sale of the railway in Manchuria.

 

The Soviet Union owned a railway in Manchuria, known as the Eastern Chinese Railway. It was built by the Russian Empire around the year 1900. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the Soviet Union inherited the railway.

 

Following the Japanese invasion and occupation of Manchuria in 1931, the Soviets wanted to sell the railway to the Japanese. The Soviets demanded a high price. The Japanese were concerned and asked Sugihara to look into the case.

 

When he did, he discovered that the railway was not worth as much as the Soviets demanded. The tracks and some of the equipment were in a poor condition. Sugihara told the Japanese delegation to make a bid which was lower than the Soviet demand.

 

The Soviets did not like that, but since they had no other buyer, they were forced to sell at a lower and more realistic price. They were furious and wanted to know who was responsible for this betrayal. When they found out that Sugihara was responsible, they focused their anger on him. This is why a Soviet agent tried kill him on the train.

 

When they realized that they would have to sell the railway for a lower price, they tried to steal back some equipment before the Japanese takeover of the railway. But they did not succeed. Sugihara and his helpers prevented the theft. This is the reason for the shoot-out next to the two locomotives.

 

Perhaps the director wanted to include this information. Perhaps the movie would have been too long if he did this. Perhaps this is why the necessary background is not provided. The result is that we have some action scenes which are unexplained; which seem out of place and unnecessary.

 

In my opinion, it would have been better to drop the whole thing. If you cannot give us the whole story, do not give us half of the story and leave us confused.

 

# 3. In 1935, Sugihara is back in Tokyo where he meets with an old friend. He also meets Yukiko, the sister of his old friend. He is fascinated by her and he asks her out to lunch.

 

When we see them in a restaurant, he asks her to marry him. She is surprised. She points out that they have only just met each other. But in the next scene they are already married! That was quick! This does not seem realistic!

 

Why does the director not spend a few scenes on the courtship? Sugihara and Yukiko need some time to get to know each other. Why does it happen so fast?

 

# 4. While he is in Tokyo, Sugihara is called to a meeting at the ministry of foreign affairs. An official tells him that he has been appointed to a post at the Japanese embassy in Moscow. It is a job he wants to have, but he is told that he cannot go.

 

The USSR has refused to give him a visa. It seems the Soviets are still angry with him because of the episode with the railway in Manchuria. He is persona non grata. He is not wanted.

 

The official is identified by an on-screen message. His name is Ichirou Sekimutsu. We have seen him before. He is the official who appears in the opening scene set in Tokyo in 1955. He is the official who says he does not know anything about a man called Sugihara and that the ministry has no information about a man with this name.

 

He is lying when he makes this statement. He knows exactly who Sugihara is! But in the opening scene his name is not mentioned. The director knows it is the same official. But the viewer must pay attention to catch this detail.

 

# 5. In 1968, towards the end of the movie, Sugihara lives and works in Moscow. But he no longer works for the ministry of foreign affairs. His own government has denied him. His own government does not want to know him anymore. They claim they have never heard of him. In a way, he has become a persona non grata in his own country.

 

Why?

 

Why did this happen?

 

Because he violated the rules and regulations when he was the Japanese consul in Lithuania and issued more than 2,100 visas to Jewish refugees.

 

His action saved ca. 6,000 Jewish lives, but the government did not praise him for this. Instead, his government decided to punish him. First, they forced him to resign and having done this, they refused to recognize that he ever worked for them.

 

Yehoshua Nishri - one of the many Jewish refugees who survived because he was saved by Sugihara’s visa – cannot forget him. He wants to find him. He searches for him for many years. 

 

In 1955, he comes to Tokyo where he visits the ministry of foreign affairs, but the official lies and tells him that they cannot help him. He says they do not know anything about a man called Sugihara. This is not true!

 

In 1968, Nishri finally manages to locate Sugihara. He finds him in Moscow and he meets with him. He wants to tell Sugihara that he and many other refugees survived the Holocaust because of the visas which he issued to them.

 

Nishri appears three times in the movie:

 

** The first time is in the opening scene set in Tokyo in 1955 where the official lies to him and refuses to tell him about Sugihara.

 

** The second time is in a scene set in Kaunas (Lithuania) in 1940 where he applies for a visa at the consulate and Sugihara issues a visa to him.

 

** The third time is in the scene set in Moscow in 1968.

 

The director knows Nishri appears in these three scenes, but the viewer must pay attention to catch this detail.

 

CONCLUSION

The story of Sugihara is important and deserves to be told. But this biopic is not a successful account of his life and career. As you can see, there are several flaws which cannot be ignored.

 

In my opinion, the ratings on IMDb and Amazon are too high. This movie is not great. It is not even good. It is average and this means it cannot get more than three stars (a rating of 60 percent).

 

PS # 1. Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness is a documentary film which premiered in the year 2000. In 2005 it was shown on US television (PBS). 

 

In my opinion, this documentary film is much better than the historical drama.

 

PS # 2. Sugihara has been described as the Japanese Schindler. Who was the real Schindler? Oskar Schindler was a German businessman who established a factory in German-occupied Poland. He employed some Jewish workers. This is how he saved some Jews.

 

How many lives did Schindler save? Around 1,200. How many lives did Sugihara save? Around 6,000. Five times as many as Schindler. But Schindler is more well-known than Sugihara. Why is that? What is the reason for this?

 

Because Schindler’s role is the subject of a Hollywood movie directed by the famous director Steven Spielberg.

 

No Hollywood director ever made a movie about Sugihara. For many years his role was unknown by the public in Japan and in the rest of the world.

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Articles available online

 

Eldad Nakar, “Sugihara Chiune and the visas to save lives: Assessing the efforts to memorialize a Japanese hero,” The Asia Pacific Journal (vol. 6, no. 1) (2008)

 

** David B. Gordon, “A tale of two diplomats: Ho Feng-Shan, Sugihara Chiune and Jewish efforts to flee Nazi Europe,” Education About Asia (vol. 20, no. 2) (2015)

 

** Jennifer Rankin, “My father, the quiet hero: how Japan’s Schindler saved 6,000 Jews,” The Guardian, 4 January 2020

 

** Gilian Brokell, “A Japanese Schindler: The remarkable diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during WWII,” Washington Post, 27 January 2021

 

** David Horovitz, "81 years later, Chiune Sugihara's humanity continues to enable new lives," The Times of Israel, 14 October 2021

 

# 2. Books

 

** Visas For Life by Yukiko Sugihara (1993)

 

** In Search of Sugihara: The Elusive Diplomat by Hillel Levine (1996) (2019)

 

** Chiune Sugihara and Japan’s Foreign Ministry (Part Two) by Seishiro Sugihara (2001) (the author has the same family name as the Japanese diplomat but he is not related to him)

 

** Diplomat Heroes of the Holocaust by Mordechai Paldiel (2007)

 

** Sugihara Chiune: The Duty and Humanity of an Intelligence Officer by Shiraishi Masaaki (translated by Gaynor Sekimori) (2021) (Japanese version published in 2015)

 

*****

 

 Chiune "Sempo" Sugihara

(1900-1986)

*****

Yukiko Sugihara

(1913-2008)

*****