Just watched a powerful war movie. "To End All Wars".

[maveric]

About Allied POW's on a slave labor camp, forced to build a road and railroad for the Japanese. This movie shows much forgiveness, perseverence, and how the prisoners at times saw themselves in their enemies.
Mostly a British and Scottish cast aside from Keifer Sutherland.
Check it out if you have cable.

[pnorman]

1. Thanks for the heads up on that film.

Here's from Amazon.com:
Editorial Reviews

A Japanese P.O.W. camp during World War II becomes the battleground for the souls as well as the lives of its Scottish and British prisoners. Based on a true story, To End All Wars centers around Ernest Gordon (Ciaran McMenamin), a young soldier who wants to teach philosophy. When Gordon recovers from seeming death by illness, the other prisoners agree to become Grodon's pupils, studying Plato, Shakespeare, and the Bible. Gordon's superior officer, Ian Campbell (Robert Carlyle, Trainspotting, The Full Monty), scoffs at the increasingly pacificist bent of Gordon's teachings. Jim Reardon (Kiefer Sutherland, 24, Freeway), a lone American running a black market, is equally skeptical. But under the relentless brutality of the camp, the only way for the soldiers to survive is to find what gives their lives meaning. The strong performances of To End All Wars makes this moral conflict as vivid as any gun battle. --Bret Fetzer

The customer reviews give it 4 1/2 stars out of 5. One less than enthusiastic person felt that "Bridge over River Quai" was a lot better, but the rest were much more appreciative. Amazon lists it "like new" for <$8.00. I just put it on my list there.

pnorman

[maveric]

2. I found it much better than "Bridge over River Quai".

More compelling and not censored like the 1950's film.
It made me cringe in horror and anger as well as making me cry.

[Kraklen]

3. I think I've just barely heard of it.

Does it really humanize the Japanese captors? Maybe I'm thinking of something else.

[maveric]

4. It humanizes one captor. A translator, educated in England.

He was the only one who showed any compsiion. In 2000 he met with the Brit Captain in Thailand, at the memorial of the campsite.
The Captain became Dean of Princeton univ. The Translator became a buddhist monk.

[Kraklen]

5. Was there a Japanese carpenter?

Got drafted and forced to build prison camps? Just wants to go back to Japan and work as a carpenter?

I must be thinking of something else.

[maveric]

6. No.

Must be another movie you're thinking about.