Director Lane Nishikawa's InterviewBY MARGARET RHEE
Photo by Shane Sato.
-Chop Block.com interview
DATE: 2004/08/06
URL: Chop Block.com
An American Story
ChopBlock.com previews Lane Nishikawa's landmark film on the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, Only The Brave
BY MARGARET RHEE
Perhaps more than romantic comedies, historic war movies make Americans (and the Academy) feel fuzzy all over. Formulaically, war history cine-digs cost millions to make, are laced with ultra testosterone, and of course contain spatters of sex, sex, sex, and romance. If there are Asians, we are usually in grouped in hordes and blown up into bits before the third plot point. Of course, a sexy slut is on cue to make a buck with a white soldier. And those white soldiers who kill the Asians and fuck the Asians are, consequently, the heroes a constant reminder of how Asians are not quite American enough.
Yet, director/actor/performance artist Lane Nishikawa's feature-length directorial debut, Only The Brave, subverts what American is, by merely telling a true story. Centered on the Japanese Americans (and one Korean American) in the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team who served in the US military during World War II, the film unfolds an American story you've never been told. "I want audience to see this picture because it is an American story", shares Nishikawa. "You have Japanese Americans saving Texans and the French from Germans. It's showing 14 Asian American men as heroes, and all the women who love them. I can't remember the last time I saw that. It's always an Asian girl and a white guy."
Nishikawa is an auteur in the greatest sense, for he has dabbled and never left the genres of his artistry. From being a pioneer in performance art, director of the San Francisco-based Asian American Theater Company, to numerous plays he wrote and directed, as well as films, Nishikawa has previously explored the Japanese American experience in many ways. Only The Brave stars the director along with Jason Scott Lee and Mark Dacascos, as well as Karate Kid II stars Pat Morita, Tamyln Tomita, and Yuji Okumoto. The cast alone uniquely makes the film so unlike what we usually see how Japanese Americans are depicted during World War II.
It's certainly been a long time since a film was made about the 100th/442nd regiment, much less shared in the white-washed halls of academia: Go For Broke! was made back in 1951."[The film] was very good and had a lot of good facts and followed their [Japanese American] experiences," says Nishikawa. "But our film is told specifically through one Japanese American's sergeant's eyes. What we've tried to do is get a good sense of these men as not only soldiers, but as fathers, husbands, boyfriends, and brothers."
Yet, it is only now that the film is being made and with the support of Japanese American veterans and politicians. "The 442nd regiment's sacrifice and accomplishment needs to be told," insists California State Assemblyman George Nakano. "We don't have enough films about this subject and without that, the public is not exposed to it. Whenever there is an opportunity to help out someone who is creating a film like this, I'd like to support it." According to the Assemblyman, it was only a matter of time. "I thought there would be some time that someone will step forward and do it," he says. "In fact, there may be many more that will be filmed in the future. I would expect that."
For Nishikawa, the subject matter is nothing new. "I have written 15 plays and three films," he says. "I've explored different aspects of the Nisei experience. I have four uncles who served in the war." However, the people he touched with his art prompted more musing. "As you do plays," he reveals, "a lot of people talk to you at shows, and I start to collect all these stories. I did more research, reading. I don't know if anything sparked my enthusiasm except that I was writing about my history and culture."
In the performing arts, the film medium is definitely the most expensive. In order to raise money, contributions by veteran families were made; the veterans' pictures will be run in the credits as well. However, the filmmakers managed to save money in other ways, too. "Financially, you just need to have a certain amount of money to make a war film," states Nishikawa. "And we have put together a terrific team that has worked with limited resources. What we save in explosives, we can make up in gunfire by using certain types of explosions in different ways."
While there is a limited amount of funds, there is no limit to making the film authentic. Dan King, one half of the military experts team who also worked on films such as The Last Samurai and Windtalkers, says it's for the veterans. "When they see themselves on film,"he explains, "and to know the uniforms are correct, the weapons are correct, and the way weapons are carried is correct, it shows respect for them. This is not Rambo." King doesn't mind almost donating his time, as well as donating the little funds he gets to charity. "The cast is amazing and sharp--you tell them something, they pick it up right away," he notes. "They have the same mindset. It's funny: after a few days, the principals really look like a squad; they have the same mindset. There are no egos, and it's been fun to work on.
For Nishikawa, it's been more than just an experience--it's what his artistic life has led up toward. "You spend years creating work and developing yourself as a professional,"he offers. "It's very rare that you realize that all that you've done is made for a moment, and that something that doesn't happen very often. And that's maybe what I feel. I've done a lot of films, and it's good to take everything you have and use it. It is kind of an amazing feeling."
In a way, Nishikawa has done something similar to the brave spirits of the Japanese American men depicted in his film: he has stepped up, for the good of all Americans.
Photo by Shane Sato.
-Chop Block.com interview
DATE: 2004/08/06
URL: Chop Block.com
An American Story
ChopBlock.com previews Lane Nishikawa's landmark film on the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, Only The Brave
BY MARGARET RHEE
Perhaps more than romantic comedies, historic war movies make Americans (and the Academy) feel fuzzy all over. Formulaically, war history cine-digs cost millions to make, are laced with ultra testosterone, and of course contain spatters of sex, sex, sex, and romance. If there are Asians, we are usually in grouped in hordes and blown up into bits before the third plot point. Of course, a sexy slut is on cue to make a buck with a white soldier. And those white soldiers who kill the Asians and fuck the Asians are, consequently, the heroes a constant reminder of how Asians are not quite American enough.
Yet, director/actor/performance artist Lane Nishikawa's feature-length directorial debut, Only The Brave, subverts what American is, by merely telling a true story. Centered on the Japanese Americans (and one Korean American) in the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team who served in the US military during World War II, the film unfolds an American story you've never been told. "I want audience to see this picture because it is an American story", shares Nishikawa. "You have Japanese Americans saving Texans and the French from Germans. It's showing 14 Asian American men as heroes, and all the women who love them. I can't remember the last time I saw that. It's always an Asian girl and a white guy."
Nishikawa is an auteur in the greatest sense, for he has dabbled and never left the genres of his artistry. From being a pioneer in performance art, director of the San Francisco-based Asian American Theater Company, to numerous plays he wrote and directed, as well as films, Nishikawa has previously explored the Japanese American experience in many ways. Only The Brave stars the director along with Jason Scott Lee and Mark Dacascos, as well as Karate Kid II stars Pat Morita, Tamyln Tomita, and Yuji Okumoto. The cast alone uniquely makes the film so unlike what we usually see how Japanese Americans are depicted during World War II.
It's certainly been a long time since a film was made about the 100th/442nd regiment, much less shared in the white-washed halls of academia: Go For Broke! was made back in 1951."[The film] was very good and had a lot of good facts and followed their [Japanese American] experiences," says Nishikawa. "But our film is told specifically through one Japanese American's sergeant's eyes. What we've tried to do is get a good sense of these men as not only soldiers, but as fathers, husbands, boyfriends, and brothers."
Yet, it is only now that the film is being made and with the support of Japanese American veterans and politicians. "The 442nd regiment's sacrifice and accomplishment needs to be told," insists California State Assemblyman George Nakano. "We don't have enough films about this subject and without that, the public is not exposed to it. Whenever there is an opportunity to help out someone who is creating a film like this, I'd like to support it." According to the Assemblyman, it was only a matter of time. "I thought there would be some time that someone will step forward and do it," he says. "In fact, there may be many more that will be filmed in the future. I would expect that."
For Nishikawa, the subject matter is nothing new. "I have written 15 plays and three films," he says. "I've explored different aspects of the Nisei experience. I have four uncles who served in the war." However, the people he touched with his art prompted more musing. "As you do plays," he reveals, "a lot of people talk to you at shows, and I start to collect all these stories. I did more research, reading. I don't know if anything sparked my enthusiasm except that I was writing about my history and culture."
In the performing arts, the film medium is definitely the most expensive. In order to raise money, contributions by veteran families were made; the veterans' pictures will be run in the credits as well. However, the filmmakers managed to save money in other ways, too. "Financially, you just need to have a certain amount of money to make a war film," states Nishikawa. "And we have put together a terrific team that has worked with limited resources. What we save in explosives, we can make up in gunfire by using certain types of explosions in different ways."
While there is a limited amount of funds, there is no limit to making the film authentic. Dan King, one half of the military experts team who also worked on films such as The Last Samurai and Windtalkers, says it's for the veterans. "When they see themselves on film,"he explains, "and to know the uniforms are correct, the weapons are correct, and the way weapons are carried is correct, it shows respect for them. This is not Rambo." King doesn't mind almost donating his time, as well as donating the little funds he gets to charity. "The cast is amazing and sharp--you tell them something, they pick it up right away," he notes. "They have the same mindset. It's funny: after a few days, the principals really look like a squad; they have the same mindset. There are no egos, and it's been fun to work on.
For Nishikawa, it's been more than just an experience--it's what his artistic life has led up toward. "You spend years creating work and developing yourself as a professional,"he offers. "It's very rare that you realize that all that you've done is made for a moment, and that something that doesn't happen very often. And that's maybe what I feel. I've done a lot of films, and it's good to take everything you have and use it. It is kind of an amazing feeling."
In a way, Nishikawa has done something similar to the brave spirits of the Japanese American men depicted in his film: he has stepped up, for the good of all Americans.
