Ashita e no Yuigon
Fujita Makoto | Fuji Sumiko | Robert Lesser | Fred McQueen
Fujita Makoto | Fuji Sumiko | Robert Lesser | Fred McQueen

In May 1945, three months before the end of World War II, Lieutenant General Okada Tasuku executed without military tribunal 38 American POWs who participated in the devastating carpet bombing of Nagoya. At the war's end, Class A war criminals like Prime Minister Tojo Hideki were tried in Tokyo, while Class B war criminals like Okada were tried in Yokohama. Directed by Koizumi Takashi (The Professor and His Beloved Equation), Best Wishes for Tomorrow (a.k.a. Ashita e no Yuigon) takes audiences to the war crimes trials of Okada Tasuku, magnificently portrayed by veteran actor Fujita Makoto. The film co-stars Robert Lesser, Fred McQueen, Richard Neal, and Aoi Yu, with narration by Takenouchi Yutaka.
Based on Ooka Shohei's Nagai Tabi, Best Wishes for Tomorrow provides a remarkably faithful and powerful account of the courtroom proceedings, with dialogue taken straight from trial transcripts. The film explores Okada's thoughts, actions, and reasons for issuing the execution order, as well as the circumstances of war and definition of war crime. Fujita Makoto occupies Okada with gravity and integrity, essaying an aged general whose sense of conviction, responsibility, and determination to protect his subordinates earned the solemn respect of his defense counsel (Robert Lesser) and the court. The Yokohama Trials brought up many controversial questions about the war, including U.S. accountability for the Nagoya bombings and whether usage of the nuclear bomb should be considered a war crime. In recreating the trial so directly, Best Wishes for Tomorrow seeks to understand the man, the crime, and the trespasses and tragedies of war on both sides. Okada Tasuku's trial is a story that deserves to be told, and the way director Koizumi chooses to tell it is a statement in itself, leaving judgment to history and responsibility to man. ~yesasia~
Based on Ooka Shohei's Nagai Tabi, Best Wishes for Tomorrow provides a remarkably faithful and powerful account of the courtroom proceedings, with dialogue taken straight from trial transcripts. The film explores Okada's thoughts, actions, and reasons for issuing the execution order, as well as the circumstances of war and definition of war crime. Fujita Makoto occupies Okada with gravity and integrity, essaying an aged general whose sense of conviction, responsibility, and determination to protect his subordinates earned the solemn respect of his defense counsel (Robert Lesser) and the court. The Yokohama Trials brought up many controversial questions about the war, including U.S. accountability for the Nagoya bombings and whether usage of the nuclear bomb should be considered a war crime. In recreating the trial so directly, Best Wishes for Tomorrow seeks to understand the man, the crime, and the trespasses and tragedies of war on both sides. Okada Tasuku's trial is a story that deserves to be told, and the way director Koizumi chooses to tell it is a statement in itself, leaving judgment to history and responsibility to man. ~yesasia~
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