Category Archives: Japanese WWII Behavior

2013, 2014, 2015, Acorn TV, Anti-Semitism, Australian, Bicycles, Catholic culture, Corny at times, DO NOT MISS, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Flirting, Gay theme, Homophobia, Italian culture, Japanese WWII Behavior, Jewish Culture, Love Story, Made For TV, Melodrama, Mildly Violent, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Optimistic, Religious Theme, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Soap Opera, Suicide, TV Series, Unmarried mother, War Veterans, Wasp Snobs, Wonderful photography, WWII

A Place To Call Home (2013)

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From Acorn TV:

An instantly irresistible saga (Wall Street Journal) brimming with secrets, passion, romance, and intrigue, A Place to Call Home explores the ties that hold families together and the betrayals that can tear them apart.

In this case Acorn’s description got it exactly right: INSTANTLY IRRESISTIBLE!

UPDATE May 2016:

Usually I hate spoilers, BUT — you at least have to know that this soap opera is destined to go on forever. Each season ends with agonizing cliff-hangers that force you onto the next season.  Unfortunately that includes season three which ends with all the characters in their own separate threads in great difficulty and with evil about to triumph. As of this update there is no season four, which makes me cry “Foul!”

Our audiologist alerted me to Acorn TV and especially to this Australian soap opera. Acorn TV shows presentations exclusively from the British commonwealth, including New Zealand and Australian. Currently Acorn TV costs $5 per month and offers a huge selection for streaming. We use ROKU to do the streaming.

Season 1 ends as a cliffhanger which sent us diving immediately into Season 2. Originally there were to be only two seasons, hence Season 2 ends happily ever after. BUT — when someone decided to do Season 3 they cleverly offer a Season 3 on Acorn TV which begins with a substitute episode for the last episode of Season 2. This rewrite ends with cliffhangers to prepare us for Season 3. Never before have I found such a maneuver. Season 1 has 13 episodes, Season 2 has 10 episodes, and Season 3 has 11 which includes the substitute final episode of Season 2.

“Schmaltz” is German for rendered chicken or goose fat. Have no doubt, this is a real soap opera with lots of schmaltzy emotions, nasty villains, noble heroes and especially heroines. If you do nothing more than just stare at the beautiful and entrancing Marta Dusseldorp (who plays the heroine Sarah Adams), you will have enjoyed yourself. Deborah Kennedy plays the best town gossip I have ever seen. All the conflicting topics are there: Catholic versus Anglican, Jews versus Gentiles, Italian workers against the upper class snobs, homophobia, veterans versus the Japanese, and the enticing list goes on. Australia is beautiful, especially in a perfect rendering of the years just after World War II.

Don’t blame me if your life is devoured by this captivating series.

DO NOT MISS!

2014, Based on true facts, British, Could Be Hard To Watch, DO NOT MISS, Human spirit, Japanese WWII Behavior, Military, Psychological Drama, PTSD, Revenge, Sadism, Torture, War

The Railway Man (2014)

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From Netflix:

Decades after his brutal captivity under the Japanese during World War II, Eric Lomax still has nightmares about the ordeal. But when he unexpectedly meets and falls for Patti, a bizarre coincidence brings his past back into focus.

Harrowing is the first word that comes to mind. My initial reaction was either that war makes beasts of men or that the Japanese are genetic sadists. But in seeing the torture sessions I was reminded that:

In 1898 President McKinley fell to his knees in the White House and had a revelation that he should Christianize the Filipinos (most of whom were already Catholic). McKinley did not know where the Philippines were located. In 1899 American soldiers landed in waves in Manila. Their letters to home said that they had come “to blow every nigger to nigger heaven”. Among American torture methods the most notorious was the “water cure” in which sections of bamboo were forced down the throats of Filipino prisoners and then used to fill the prisoner’s stomachs with dirty water until they swelled in torment. America soldiers would then jump on the prisoner’s stomach to force the water out.

[Material comes from Chapter 2 “Bound for Goo-Goo Land” of the book “Overthrow” by Stephen Kinzer. Henry Holt 2006]

Is the CIA’s water boarding torture similar? “President” Cheney says that water boarding is NOT torture. Tell that to Eric Lomax, the true life hero in this film.

Colin Firth delivers an important role in his career. Nicole Kidman is a beautiful, mature actor. Good directing keeps the film from being over sentimental.

If there is a message, it is one of the final lines “The hating has to stop somewhere.”

Be sure to stay for the explanatory lines just before the final credits.

If you can stand to watch, DO NOT MISS!