[Tomoko Noguchi]

This movie is probably one of the best war films ever. It is in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and is based on a 1962 book by Ernest Gordon (a true-life survivor of the camps), The Miracle on the River Kwai, and is what Bridge on the River Kwai was made from.

However, this film is much more realistic. There are very cruel scenes with Japanese soldiers against prisoners of war and vice versa. But, the thing that is the best about this film is the message of forgiveness even in the worst of times.

I hope you can see it in America. It was released in 2001 and stars Kiefer Sutherland, Robert Carlyle, and Ciarán McMenamin.

Spoiler:

Perhaps one of the most remembered scenes is when one of the men, giving his life for another, accepts the punishment for the first man--death. He ends up being killed like Jesus Christ

This movie is on dvd in Japan right now and if you can watch Region 2 discs, I advise you to get it. Who knows when it might get to the United States.

[Bill J]

I remember hearing about this film a few years ago. Unfortunately I only have Region 1 DVD capabilities.

[ThomasC]

This got an extremely limited release on the West Coast earlier this year, plus a one week run in L.A. in December to get award consideration (yeah, right, not with that kind of distribution). As far as I know, there's no talk of a Region 1 DVD. The distributor, Argyll Films, hasn't updated the official website since the end of the limited release.

http://www.argyllfilms.com