Isoroku (film)


Isoroku is a 2011 Japanese war drama film about Isoroku Yamamoto.

Other names

Other English home media titles of the film are The Admiral,
and Admiral Yamamoto.
English titles not used in home video releases are Yamamoto Isoroku, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet and Admiral Isoroku.

Plot

The film presents Yamamoto's family life, his attempts to prevent the impending conflict with the United States amid World War II and his run-ins with Japanese war hawks. The Japanese military establishment entangles Yamamoto in the war and orders him to prepare the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Cast

The making of the film lasted four years. Kōji Yakusho was reportedly the only actor considered for the role of Yamamoto and the film would have been canceled if he turned it down. Yakusho was offered the role in the summer of 2009, and accepted the role in the winter of 2010. The production staff declared it intended to present an image of "what a Japanese leader should be".

Reception

Rob Schwartz from Metropolis described the film as a "well-paced and well-acted work", which "is not a bad watch for those interested in a Japanese view of the war". Schwartz further noted that unlike the with the same title, which "was a piece of propaganda", the 2011 film "doesn’t fall into that trap". Ronnie Scheib from Variety characterised the film as "Izuru Narushima's well-crafted, rather old-fashioned and unquestioning elegy" to Yamamoto, which "succeeds where many biopics fail in fully integrating the private man and the public figure".