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Title: old WWII movie - elderly Asian woman walks off cliff holding hands with a child Post by: Kurt Neville on October 02, 2012, 03:34:13 PM I don't love World War II movies but this scene has haunted me for 40 years. I was too young to see it even though it was on television. I believe it must have revolved around Japan and the Pacific. An American serviceman could do nothing but watch as the woman and child walked off a seaside cliff, slowly falling to their presumed death on the beach below. Thought it might have been From Here to Eternity but know I was wrong after recently viewing that film. Any old-timers or WWII buffs out there who can help?
Title: Re: old WWII movie - elderly Asian woman walks off cliff holding hands with a child Post by: Jim H on October 06, 2012, 02:47:44 AM Sorry that I can't tell you the answer, but I remember seeing this scene in a film class - which means it at least has been put on some video format, as I saw it less than 5 years ago.
Title: Re: old WWII movie - elderly Asian woman walks off cliff holding hands with a child Post by: darius on October 15, 2012, 07:19:29 PM The actual occurrence in history was the battle for Okinawa. The Japanese army told civilians that the invading allies were barbarians who would commit atrocities, so a lot of women and children threw themselves off cliffs. The Wikipedia article has a good discussion:
With the impending victory of American troops, civilians often committed mass suicide, urged on by the Japanese soldiers who told locals that victorious American soldiers would go on a rampage of killing and raping. Ryukyu Shimpo, one of the two major Okinawan newspapers, wrote in 2007: "There are many Okinawans who have testified that the Japanese Army directed them to commit suicide. There are also people who have testified that they were handed grenades by Japanese soldiers" to blow themselves up.[38] Some of the civilians, having been induced by Japanese propaganda to believe that U.S. soldiers were barbarians who committed horrible atrocities, killed their families and themselves to avoid capture. Some of them threw themselves and their family members from the cliffs where the Peace Museum now resides. However, despite being told by the Japanese military that they would suffer rape, torture and murder at the hands of the Americans, Okinawans "were often surprised at the comparatively humane treatment they received from the American enemy."[39][40] According to Islands of Discontent: Okinawan Responses to Japanese and American Power by Mark Selden, the Americans "did not pursue a policy of torture, rape, and murder of civilians as Japanese military officials had warned."[41] Military Intelligence[42] combat translator Teruto Tsubota—a U.S. Marine born in Hawaii—convinced hundreds of civilians not to kill themselves and thus saved their lives.[43] |