On the last day of 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took the time out to watch the Japanese war drama The Eternal Zero, which he later gave "high praise." Directed by film director and screenwriter Takashi Yamazaki, The Eternal Zero focuses on Japanese Zero fighter plane pilots during World War II. Although a portion of the film takes place in modern times, most of the action is set against the background of the war. These scenes carry traces of a pro-militaristic air about them.
Abe's praise for the film in addition to the high box office returns the film made in its home market demonstrate the growing arrogant disregard Japan has towards history. The strong right wing leaning tendencies portrayed in the film are a phenomenon that should make countries around the world stop and take heed.
The Eternal Zero is not the only Japanese film that belongs to this right wing leaning camp as the past decade has seen an increasing tide of films from right wing filmmakers in Japan.
Since 2005, a number of military films about the Imperial Japanese Navy and the current Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force have been made, such as Aegis (2005), Yamato (2005), Last Operations Under the Orion (2009) and Oba: The Last Samurai (2011). With the assistance of Japan's Self-Defense Force, these big budget productions have tried to whitewash, distort and even outright deny the internationally recognized crimes the Japanese military committed during World War II while accelerating the distortion of history under the guise of popular culture.
This stands in sharp contrast to the period after World War II up until the mid-1970s, when anti-war messages and themes promoting peaceful cooperation held a mainstream position in Japan's film industry.
While certain filmmakers also made films about war, such as Akira Kurosawa's No Regrets for Our Youth (1946), Tadashi Imai's Till We Meet Again (1950) and Keisuke Kinoshita's Twenty-four Eyes (1954), these works were attempting to bring about thought provoking reflection on the effects of war.
However, even the works of these masters were limited in scope, usually only touching on the cruelties of war and its effects on the people of Japan. As to the role Japan played in the war and the impact it had on other countries in Asia, this was very rarely dealt with. Playing the role of the victim, Japan's film industry has continually deflected examinations into historical reality and the responsibility the nation has towards those it wronged.
Standing in strong contrast to the ambiguous attitude Japan has adopted towards its history, is the deeply reflective and contemplative attitude adopted by Germany and Italy.
Germany has never tried to cover up the mistakes of the past. During the 1970s, filmmakers like Volker Schlöndorff and Rainer Werner Fassbinder produced contemplative and sincere films that examined the effects of war, such as The Tin Drum (1979) and The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979).
Since the 1990s, a few German films also made headway when it came to discussing the responsibilities of war; for instance, Stalingrad (1993) by Joseph Vilsmaier, Nowhere in Africa (2001) by Caroline Link and Downfall (2004) by Oliver Hirschbiegel.
Italian films, meanwhile, are more diversified in their reflection. While neorealism works like Germany Year Zero (1948) and Rome, Open City (1945) were made during the early years right after the war, 1997's Life is Beautiful and 2000's Malèna examine the hard realities of war under the guise of a comedy and a romance.
Japan's lack of contemplation concerning its role during the war has opened the door to a resurgence of right wing thought. As we entered this new century, Japan has had to watch the rise of its Asian neighbors, especially China, while continually dealing with increasingly difficult economic and social problems. This situation has shaken the confidence of the Japanese people, and along with increasingly conservative nationalism has provided the perfect breeding ground for a growing right wing movement.
The author is a freelance movie critic.