American
Film
Review by Kam Williams
Inter-Generational
Drama Recounts Internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII
A
couple of months after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. In accordance
with this directive, over 100,000 U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry
were herded up and taken to internment camps for the duration of
World War II.
American,
though set in the present, revisits that shameful chapter in our
history. It is appropriate that the poignant picture stars George
Takei, best remembered as Lt. Sulu of Star Trek fame since, at the
tender age of 5, he and his family were forced out of their home at
gunpoint and relocated to parts unknown.
In
American, he plays Clinton Nakamato, a 94 year-old veteran who
proudly served his country in WWII, despite having been shipped to a
concentration camp on account of his Japanese heritage. At the point
of departure, we find him volunteering at the Japanese-American
National Museum as he recounts his unfortunate ordeal on U.S. soil to
a visitor (Rachel Michiko Whitney) with an impressionable young
daughter (Araceli Prasarttongosoth) in tow.
As
Clinton conducts an impromptu tour for them, we learn what life had
been like for him when housed behind barbed wire. Ironically, he
started every school day began with the Pledge of Allegiance to the
country imprisoning him. Nevertheless, when he came of age, he opted
to enlist in the army.
The
plot thickens when the little girl shows him a picture of her
grandfather, who had also been a member of the 442, a Japanese
regiment which suffered very heavy casualties while fighting the
Nazis overseas. The photo triggers a battlefield flashback in Clinton
which ultimately leads to a couple of touching tableaux it would be
unfair for me to spoil.
Directed
by Richie Adams (Of Mind and Music), American is a character-driven
drama which packs quite an emotional punch, given its duration of
less than 18 minutes. Kudos to George Takei for this labor of love
doubling as a very timely teachable moment about racial tolerance.
Excellent
(4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 18
minutes
Production Studio:
River Road Creative
Distributor: River
Road Creative
For
more information, visit: https://www.americanshortfilm.com/
To
see a trailer for American, visit: https://youtu.be/XpNy0dhZsfs
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