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The Cowra Breakout (1984)

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clip Keeping hold of authority education content clip 1

Original classification rating: M. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

At the Cowra POW camp, another 100 Japanese prisoners have arrived and pour scorn on their compatriots for having accepted their prison status without a fight to the death for the honour of their Emperor and their families. They stage a revolt and the young Lieutenant McDonald (Andrew Lloyde) is about to open fire on the prisoners when Major Hordern (Simon Chilvers) intervenes and is able to disarm the situation so that the 15 defiant Japanese soldiers are undermined and brought under control. The clip ends on the Japanese leader in the camp, Komatsu (Kazuhiri Muroyama), clearly disturbed by the rebellion.

Curator’s notes

by Janet Bell

The Japanese soldiers who wish to die rather than submit to captivity are trying to goad the jailers into shooting them. Major Hordern as an older and wiser officer than the young Lieutenant, is able to temporarily resolve the rebellion.

The scene cleverly develops the growing mutual respect between Stan and the young Japanese soldier Junji Hayashi (Junichi Ishada), which will lead to the prisoner alerting Stan to the growing tension in the camp.

The use of subtitles adds to the sense that we are witnessing the Japanese point of view.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

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  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
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