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Japan's Longest Day

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Wikipedia article




, also known as 'The Emperor and the General', is a 1967 Japanese war film directed by Kihachi Okamoto. The subject of the majority of the movie is the period between noon on August 14, 1945 and noon on August 15, 1945, when Emperor Hirohito's decision to surrender to the Allies in World War II was broadcast to the Japanese people, and the attempted coup d'tat to prevent that from happening. Film historian Joseph L. Anderson describes the film as "a meticulous reconstruction of the day Japan surrendered and thus ended the Pacific War.

Cast



Several of Japan's best known actors of the day participated in the film.

Production



According to Okamoto, Masaki Kobayashi was originally supposed to direct 'Japan's Longest Day' but didn't want to, so co-producer Sanezumi Fujimoto suggested that Okamoto direct it. Okamoto believes that this film and his subsequent film 'The Human Bullet' (1968) are expressions of his anti-war feelings. 'Japan's Longest Day' portrays the actual people who were able to remain above the fighting, but did fight with each other, while 'The Human Bullet' is a satire of those who did have to fight in the war.

Release



'Japan's Longest Day' was released in Japan on August 12, 1967, close to the anniversary of the surrender. This started a trend of releasing World War II films on the anniversary, which included Okamoto's 1971 film 'The Battle of Okinawa'. It became the second highest grossing film in Japan in 1967. Shinobu Hashimoto won the Kinema Junpo Award for best screenplay for this movie. The film was re-released theatrically in Japan on November 21, 1982 as part of Toho's 50th anniversary. A remake of 'Japan's Longest Day', identically titled in Japanese but released in English under the title 'The Emperor in August', was issued in 2015 by Shochiku, directed by Masato Harada.

References



Category:1967 films

Category:Films directed by Kihachi Okamoto

Category:Films with screenplays by Shinobu Hashimoto

Category:1960s Japanese-language films

Category:World War II films based on actual events

Category:Pacific War films

Category:Toho films

Category:Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka

Category:Films produced by Sanezumi Fujimoto

Category:Films scored by Masaru Sato

Category:Cultural depictions of Hirohito

Category:1960s Japanese films

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