i really not sure if it will be shown in singapore...
anyway, i watched it in china.. quite a popular show in china
now..
From: chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/2006-09/19/content_692051.htm
Tokyo Trial film enjoys big success
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-09-19 10:09
The historical movie "Tokyo Trial" has proved a big success since
opening nationwide in September.
"Every Chinese person, especially teenagers, should watch the
movie," said a filmgoer, a retired middle school teacher in her
late 70s, whose family was shattered during the Japanese
aggression.
Ten days after its debut on September 1, the film about the trial
of Japanese war criminals had raked up 10 million yuan (1.25million
U.S. dollars) at the box office, despite competition from Hollywood
blockbuster X-Man III.
The Tokyo Trial, which took place after World War II ended, lasted
for two and a half years from May 1946 to November 1948. The
prosecution team was made up of judges from 11 nations. They sent
seven war criminals to the gallows, including Hideki Tojo, who was
Japanese Prime Minister during the Pearl Harbor attack in
1941.
Student Zhou Zhou admitted feeling a surge of patriotism during the
movie. "It is awful that Japanese rightists are trying to distort
history and that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi keeps on
visiting the Yasukuni Shrine."
Wu Chunji, a teacher with the Shanghai Institute of Visual Artsat
Fudan University, said the film is more touching than any textbook.
"I learnt a lot of history I didn't know from the movie," he
said.
The teacher said the characters in the film were vivid and
convincing. Japanese soldier Yamada Masa shows remorse for the
invasion, while the arrogant Kitano denies everything in court.
"They are all representatives of Japanese people nowadays," he
said.
Film critic Mao Shi'an believes that the movie's success lies in
its main theme, which is not nationalism and hatred, but reflection
and a desire for world peace.
Gao Qunshu, director of the movie, said his crew spent more than a
year doing research to finish the script, which is based on
historical data.
The movie, which cost 18 million yuan (2.25 million U.S. dollars),
involves actors and actresses from 11 countries, including several
movie stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan. They recreate court scenes
from 60 years ago in Chinese, English and Japanese.
Famous Hong Kong actor Damian Lau stars as Mei Ru'ao, the only
Chinese judge at the tribunal and an eloquent and patriotic man who
convinced the other judges that Hideki Tojo should be hanged.
Gao revealed that some Japanese companies have shown interest in
the movie and it is quite likely to be screened in Japan.
Professor Su Zhiliang from Shanghai Normal University, editor of
high school history textbooks, intends to include the movie in the
textbooks.
Su's other "hat" is director of the Chinese Research Center of
Comfort Women. "Comfort women is also a good topic," he said.
"Professors of history should cooperate more with movie producers
to make good movies like Tokyo Trial."
The movie was shown in cinemas and around 100 universities across
the country on Monday to mark the 75th anniversary of the start of
Japan's invasion of China.
