The Eternal Zero
– A young man Kentaro Saeki (Haruma Miura) keeps failing his bar test and does not know what to do any..
A young man Kentaro Saeki (Haruma Miura) keeps failing his bar test and does not know what to do any more. His older sister Keiko is a freelance writer. Kentaro and Keiko begin to search for information on their grandfather Kyuzo Miyabe (Junichi Okada) who dead in the special forces during World War II. Their grandfather Kyuzo Miyabe was terrified of death and obsessed with life. Why did he join the special forces? According to his fellow navy soldiers, Kyuzo Miyabe was a genius and also a coward. Kentaro and Keiko then discovers the shocking truth which has been sealed for 60 years.
21 Dec 2013
Japanese
Takashi Yamazaki
Takashi Yamazaki (screenplay), Tamio Hayashi (screenplay), Naoki Hyakuta (novel)
Jun'ichi Okada, Haruma Miura, Mao Inoue, Gaku Hamada
26 year old Kentaro discovers his biological grandfather died as a kamikaze pilot during WW2. He and his sister begin an investigation into what kind of person he was, interviewing men who fought with him. There follows the story of Japanese Navy Air Service Platoon Sergeant Miyabe, as told by four of the men who knew him best. Intricately woven the film follows him through Pearl Harbor, the Midway Battle and the Battle for Okinawa. When he finally loses his will and respect for life he enrolls in the Special Attack Force and passes his responsibility to return to his wife and infant daughter on to a younger pilot. An engaging tale of a man brave enough to challenge accepted ways of thinking.
9 wins & 4 nominations.