Under the Blood-Red Sun

As a Hawai'i resident, it's a joy to see made-in-Hawai'i movies that stand up to any large studio project, with regards to acting, directing, story, production values, impact and education. Particularly to the family films genre, "Under the Blood Red Sun" is a major contribution.

Tim Savage and Red Sun Productions' excellent expression of Graham Salisbury's award-winning youth novel brings the WWII attack on Pearl Harbor into sharp focus. Against that historical background, the story of two boys--one Japanese, one Caucasian--is well-told and powerfully portrayed by young actors Kyler Sakamoto and Kalama Epstein.

As the boys and their families and friends (including up-and-coming 'ukulele star Aidan James) deal with the days and months that follow, they learn about loyalty, honor and strength in a hero's journey that's close to home, yet universal in heart.

Made with skill and aloha, "Under the Blood Red Sun" is a must-see.

This could have been a good film, but halfway through I longed for it to finish.

The acting was OK at times, mediocre at others. I've seen better acting in silly B-movie SF films!

The dialogue was, at times, very poorly written. You could forgive the non-American characters, their broken English was often pretty convincing. But the Americans' dialogue was often pretty abysmal. Dare I even suggest that a certain blond-haired boy was added for a little light-hearted relief, because he's quite possibly one of the most pathetic characters I've ever seen!

I feel bad for writing this review, but I honestly didn't like the film. As I'm writing this, the film has a rating of 8.2 after 44 ratings, which IMHO just doesn't reflect its poor quality.

Terrific performances from veteran local and mainland actors Tashima, Ogawa, Seki and Kahele. Admittedly, it feels at times their pidgin English is sometimes compromised. "Like dat" instead of "li'dat." But this film dramatizes a historically important event, from a unique perspective, that of a Japanese American child. Though I would have liked to have seen him become more rebellious, and experience the consequences of his actions, his character arc was weakened because of this. Further, it appears that there were no consequences to his actions. I would have liked to see him put through the ringer more.

I wasn't crazy about the child actors, especially the "cutesy" JA girls, who were only there for window dressing. My own experience with child actors in Hawaii is that they can't seem to get out of their musical theater training. Ki Sakamoto is believable and improves as the film progresses, but the script was weak and felt like a foreigner's perspective.

I could nitpick on odd inconsistencies, like Kahele's character telling the family not to speak Japanese when they never do in the first place. Or the boys that don't contribute much to the story and don't even play baseball.

You can tell which kids were raised not to speak pidgin.

But overall, what Tim Savage and D.P. Shawn Hiatt can do in re-creating 1941 Hawaii without a multi-million dollar budget was very impressive.

What a great movie - full of action, drama, and lessons. Great directing - all time favorite movie!! The story teaches us about the value of true friendship - through thick or thin. The moving story line and depth if acting make this a must see movie. Great to see a film directed and produced in Hawaii and by those who understand the history, the emotions, and the success. I would give this movie a 10!! No spoiler alert - but the ending is awesome! I would recommend this movie with friends and lots of popcorn! This movie should come with a warning...you'll want to read the book, travel to Hawaii and watch it again.

Under the Blood Red Sun: The Human Scale of War

I was one of the lucky thousand Honoluluans and visitors who sat under the stars at Pearl Harbor one night this summer and watched this grand movie unfurl.

Intimately tied to the harbor and its world famous Pacific Theatre memorial, the story of Under the Blood Red Sun refreshes the events of December 7, 1941 by telling individual stories of a community directly touched by the realization that the unthinkable had become reality. In the audience were some of those who had fought in the resulting war, and many whose families have stories that are repeated through the generations: of love and loss and courage and dignity.

America, stunned by the attack on its own shores, went into a panic and interned thousands of loyal American citizens for fear that they might be enemy agents. This was not difficult to do: just racial profiling at its most blatant. German Americans were not interned wholesale: they were not as easy to pick out of the crowd. The story tells of the choices every person makes when faced with fear and when given power without merit. The problem has not disappeared: today's victims of racial profiling are pretty much anyone who strays out of his own neighborhood.

This is what makes the film so valuable: it delivers the message that seeing through the one dimensional image of a person to his or her individual being is and should be a priority for all persons. It is one of the primary tenets of American philosophy, one that each generation seemingly must relearn.

Under the Blood Red Sun tells the story of war bringing separation between two boys who are close friends, and between members of a Japanese American family who must choose between family pride in a history in Japan and the new world they have chosen, and beyond that, to understand and try to accept the pain of the profiling and what it means for them.

This film says all this without the need to explain itself, simply and lovingly. It is tender and funny, poignant and useful. Like the little girl in the film.

Under the Blood Red Sun is a labor of love by a largely Hawaii based cast and crew, some of whom are new at the job and some of whom are experienced. All have been touched by the story, which has the blessing of those who lived through those dark days-special showings were made for former internees and members of the famous 442/100 battalion of Japanese Americans, and the author, Graham Salisbury, has made time for these brave men throughout the twenty year history of the novel on which the film is based. Salisbury spent the time to achieve historic and cultural accuracy, making this novel and ones which followed it in Salisbury's World War II series not only gripping tales but teaching tools . The series and the film are achievements to be proud of.