In "Tokyo Trial," Hong Kong veteran Kenneth Tsang play the
righteous Chinese prosecutor.
The movie focuses on the trial of 28 Japanese war criminals at the
end of World War II in 1946 and depicts how the eloquent Mei Ruao,
a Chinese judge, charged the Japanese for war crimes, maintaining
China's dignity on the international stage.
"This part of history has been submerged for too long and many
people don't know the facts. Even when I got the script, my
impression of this part of history was a few words like 'Tokyo
trial,' and 'Hideki Tojo.' To show the trial and to tell people
what really happened at the trial is of great importance," said
director Gao Shuqun.
In fact, the Tokyo trial was the biggest international trial in
history, even larger than the Nuremberg trials. It lasted two and a
half years, from May 1946 to November 1948. During 818 public
sessions, trial records reached 48,000 pages; and 419 witnesses
gave testimony.
The movie version is Gao's feature film debut after gaining a
reputation for directing realistic TV dramas. Some music critics
said the music in the movie was reminiscent of "Schindler's List."
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television censors
reportedly approved the film without cuts, and some critics say the
movie is likely to be the latest dark horse success since "Crazy
Stone."
"The most important thing about the movie is that it's true to
history," said Gao. "That Mei insisted on sentencing criminals to
death is true. The dialogue between Mei and war criminal Hideki
Tojo is the original based on the trial record. The courtroom and
the Japanese restaurants are replications of the real ones. Even
the tiles used for the buildings are made with Japanese technology.
What we're trying to do is to show the historical accuracy and
legal authenticity," he added.
However, Zhang Peiji, who went through the trial as an assistant to
one of the prosecutors, said some details of the film were
inaccurate.
He said the clothes war criminals wore were not suits but army
uniforms. In the movie, Chinese judges and prosecutors talk to each
other before and after the trial. Zhang said the rule was that they
were not allowed to talk in private.
The mainstream film attracted Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland stars,
including Kenneth Tsang, Eric Tsang, Damian Lau, Ying Da,
heartthrob Ken Zhu and Kelly Lin.
The movie also attracted U.S. and Japanese actors. Gao said he had
thought Japanese actors would turn down the opportunity to perform
in this historical movie, but they accepted the plot and delivered
professional performances. About 80 percent of the dialogue is in
English and Japanese.
