| Cinematic Survivor Ken Watanabe |
| Written by Brad Balfour | ||||
| Friday, 29 December 2006 20:53 | ||||
Page 1 of 2
Ken Watanabe as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in "Letters from Iwo Jima"
 Told from the Japanese point of view, this companion piece to "Flags of Our Fathers" provides not only a fresh view of the war but an anti-war statement that demonstrates both the humanity of the enemy--in this case the Japanese soldiers--and the extremes that their sense of honor provoked with utterly futile results. The 45-year old Watanabe brilliantly expressed Kuribayashi's military intelligence (the general set up a series of tunnels that extended the Japanese resistance by weeks), his sense of duty, and respect for his men as well as a healthy respect for the Americans; he had spent time living in California before returning to Japan at the advent of war. And once again, against the odds, this film--shot almost entirely in Japanese and with a mostly Japanese cast--is being touted as Oscar-worthy. But this isn't the first time that Watanabe intersected with the West both on and off-camera; in "The Last Samurai" he played Katsumo, the samurai leader who led a rebellion against the elected Japanese government (and garnered a Best Supporting Actor nom) and in "Memoirs of A Geisha" he was the Chairman. Though his career was nearly derailed by a bout with leukemia, Watanabe has paid his dues, starting out in theater and then in doing historical dramas such as "Dokugan ryu Masamune"--playing a samurai hero that made him a household name in Japan. Such films as "Tampopo" and "Kizuna" established him as a full-fledged film actor. iwojimathemovie.warnerbros.com
Watanabe in "Letters From Iwo Jima"
Watanabe was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2004 Academy Awards for his role in "The Last Samurai"
Director Clint Eastwood and Ken Watanabe on the set of "Letters"
Ken Watanabe with TimesSquare.com editor-in-chief Brad Balfour
KW: My character carried the spirit of the samurai, but he was also a very rational person--he had studied for five years in both the United States and Canada. He completely understood the American way: its culture, customs, economy, industry, everything. So it wasn't easy for him to fight against the United States. He struggled a lot before going into battle. In the end, though, he focused on the task at hand by reminding himself that he was fighting in the name of his country and his family. Q: Did you ever wonder what it would have been like if you had been in the war yourself? KW: I find it almost impossible to grasp such an idea. It's overwhelming. Q: Was it important to make a statement at this time about the experience of the Japanese during the war? Iraq has led us to reexamine war. KW: Clint [Eastwood] did not want to romanticize the war. Japan's history is very rich but also very sad, and he wanted to portray the war realistically. Of course, the movie may conjure up feelings about the war in Iraq, but our intention was not to comment on Iraq. Q: Was the message of this film that war should be avoided? KW: Yes. Q: Since we've been engulfed in so many ongoing wars, how would you explain the importance of seeing this film to someone who doesn't even like films about war? KW: I didn't really have strong feelings about war before shooting, one way or the other. But after doing the film, my eyes were opened to its atrocities. I feel deeply for anyone who has had to live through something like that. Q: So even the person who's not interested in war movies, they'll get this message? KW: Yes, it reflects an unfortunate aspect of reality, but it must be brought to light. Q: What did you do in preparing for this film; did you meet with anyone who helped you get a perspective on the experience? KW: I play the role of a commander so I had to familiarize myself with military processes and warfare. I asked myself, "Why did Japan start the war?" I wanted to know all the decisions that eventually led up to the tragedy. I found myself frustrated with some of the decisions that were made back then. Q: In researching this film, did you come away with an understanding or knowledge that you didn't have beforehand? KW: Unfortunately, most Japanese people aren't aware of this tragedy; even I didn't know until I did the film. It's difficult to say why, but perhaps it has something to do with the lack of a good education. This film deals with only one of many tragedies in the history of the world, but hopefully it will get people to think more about these forgotten incidents. Q: What was your toughest challenge in this movie? KW: When Clint approached me about this project, it posed a great personal challenge for me. There was a lot of pressure. Here I am as a Japanese actor and I'm being asked to represent a true historical account of my country. There were thousands and thousands of casualties on this island, so it was a big deal for me. Q: You felt responsible to give voice to your country. KW: Yes. Q: What was it like working with Clint on set? KW: You would think that the set on a war movie would be chaotic--lots of dirt, sweat and noise. It was actually pretty calm. We were depicting such intense and violent incidents, but everyone was at peace. I almost forgot that we were shooting a war film. Q: Did you help with the casting? KW: I helped a little bit. I made suggestions to Clint that so-and-so was great at this and someone else was great for that. Q: Had you worked with any of the other actors before? KW: I'd worked on four occasions with Tsuyoshi Ihara. Q: Really? Were they samurai films? KW: Yes, they were made in Japan. Q: Going forward, do you want to continue exploring the intersection between Japanese and Western culture or do something totally different? KW: Honestly, I have no idea. I tried "Memoirs of a Geisha" last year and this year I did a film in Japan about an Alzheimer's patient ["Ashita no Kikoku /Memories for Tomorrow"; Watanabe was both the lead and executive producer] that I'm trying to get distributed here. I did a lot this year, so I'm just sitting on these films and looking forward to future opportunities [he is rumored to play Kenuichio Harada/Silver Samurai in "Wolverine"].
|
