A Date That Will Live In Infamy
Disney's new summer movie, "Pearl Harbor" promises to continue a trend launched by "Saving Private Ryan": using brutal battle realism to pay tribute to the generation of soldiers who saved the world from the tyranny of Hitler and Tojo. The tone has shifted drastically in the hundreds of World War II films and TV shows produced in the past six decades, from propaganda films to action-adventure stories, satire and now nostalgic reverence.
And filmmakers are urging history buffs to think love, not war.
Despite a title that conjures up images of the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base that brought America into World War II, the movie focuses on a romance taking place before, during and after the battle.
"Pearl Harbor" is the story of a romantic triangle involving a Navy nurse, Evelyn, (Kate Beckinsale) and Army Air Corps pilots Rafe and Danny (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) that is disrupted by the Japanese raid on the island of Oahu.
The high point of the film is a 40-minute special effects extravaganza portraying the nearly two-hour attack, in which over 2,400 Americans died, and 18 U.S. warships and 188 planes were destroyed.
The movie's producers said they wanted to make "Pearl Harbor" true to the essence of the events surround the battle in order to pay homage to the men and women who served in it. They researched studiously and hired historians to assure the accuracy of details. But they also admit to stretching the truth for the sake of drama.
"We never forget about history, producer Jerry Bruckheimer said, "but we have to serve the story."
Moreover, historical records and survivor accounts often conflict, so separating fact from fiction was difficult.
"Historians told us certain things survivors told us never happed. Survivors said, 'don't tell me, I was hanging onto the ship when those bullets came down,'" he added.
Army reserve officer Olav Holst, at guide at Hawaii's many bases for Top Gun Tours in Honolulu, has seen the movie in a preview and agrees with Bruckheimer that it's sometimes difficult to get at the truth.
"Some (historical accounts) will be reliable and some won't. Even eyewitness accounts vary," Holst said. "I think they did a pretty good job."
For Monday's world premiere Disney has transformed the Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis into a gigantic movie theater.
The ship, moored in Pearl Harbor, is a few hundred yards from ground zero of the attack. The ship is opposite the memorial for some 900 crew of the USS Arizona who went down with the battleship in the first 30 minutes of the raid. Nearby is the USS Missouri battleship, on whose deck Japan signed surrender documents in 1945.
2,000 invited guests, including Navy brass, Washington politicians, Hollywood studio executives and veterans are expected to attend the screening.
Actress James King, who plays a nurse in the movie, says the premiere will be a tribute to Americans killed in the atack.
"It's time to have a celebration in their memory," she said. "I think it's time to look back at this time and celebrate the time our country pulled together."
The movie opens in theaters Friday.
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