Reflections for the Film

To End All Wars
We will start the film around 6:30, Monday evening, September 20, 2004, right after we finish eating.  (If you are meeting Lauren and Jami, please be at the Boyce Post Office by 5:50 p.m., so they can lead you to my home.)  

Remember that the film is based on a true story, and the main characters of the film were real people who actually lived through these terrible events. 

Shinto: “The native religious system of Japan, the central belief of which is that the mikado is the direct descendant of the sun-goddess and that implicit obedience is due to him.” (Oxford English Dictionary.)

Mikado: “The title of the emperor of Japan.  It was usual for European writers to describe the Mikado as a ‘spiritual’ emperor, and the Shogun (who was the de facto ruler until 1867) as a second or ‘temporal’ emperor.”  (Ibid.)

Bushido:  “In feudal Japan, the ethical code of the Samurai or military knighthood. . .   Bu-shi-do means literally Military-knight-ways—the ways which fighting nobles should observe in their daily life as well as in their vocation.” (Ibid.)

How does Bushido impact the lives of certain characters, particularly Captain Noguchi?  Is there a parallel between Captain Noguchi and Major Campbell?

As you watch the film, think about how each of these characters lives out his view of reality in the drama that unfolds.  Please be prepared to discuss each of these people.

Lieutenant Colonel Stuart McLean........................(James Cosmo)

Major Ian Campbell...............................................(Robert Carlyle)

American Lieutenant Jim Reardon....................(Kiefer Sutherland)

Captain Ernest Gordon...................................(Ciarán McMenamin)

Dusty Miller...............................................................(Mark Strong)

Camp Commandant Ito............................................(Sakae Kimura)

Captain Noguchi.......................................................(Masayuki Yui)

Colonel Nagatomo....................................................(Shu Nakajima)

Translator Takashi Nagase.........................................(Yugo Saso)