Cinema
The Dawn of Freedom
Yutaka Abe · 1944
Synopsis
The film follows the rout of the American troops and their Filipino allies in 1942, from the withdrawal to the Bataan peninsula to the surrender of Corregidor, through the fate of the Filipino captain Garcia and his young brother Toni, whom a Japanese corporal helps to walk again after an accident. The Japanese army appears in it as the liberator of an Asia subjected to Westerners, and the Filipinos are invited to join the co-prosperity sphere that it claims to be building.
Context
Toho produced the film for the Japanese army, which commissioned the screenplay from Hideo Oguni and Ryuichiro Yagi. It was to be called Operation Philippines; the Japanese title finally chosen, Shoot That Flag, refers to the American banner on Corregidor, whose surrender serves as the climax of the story. Yutaka Abe directed the whole, Gerardo de Leon the Philippine scenes and the performers from that country, Fernando Poe and Leopoldo Salcedo among them. The premiere took place in Tokyo on 5 February 1944. The use of Filipino and American prisoners as extras caused a scandal after the war. A Japanese production shot in the Philippines, the film is classed here with the cinema of that country for the part played in it by its co-director and its Filipino performers.
Who it is for
One hundred and eight minutes in Japanese, Tagalog and English. A propaganda piece to be watched as such: the intention of its sponsor can be read in every scene.
Prizes and reception
No prizes. Its reputation rests on its status as an exhibit in the postwar debates over the artists who stayed to work in Manila.