AMERICAN PASTIME

AMERICAN PASTIME - 2007

RATED - NR but probably PG for some violence and language.

RATINGS - 19 Amazon (4/5), 18,885 (3.6/5), 228 IMDB (6.9/10)

THEMES - Racial discrimination, injustice, relationships, war.

STORY - On a macro level, this is about the United States imprisonment of over 120,000 American citizens who were of Japanese descent for four years during WWII. The reason: we were at war with Japan and every Japanese was suspected of treason and sabotage. The reality: there was never one case of treason or sabotage during the entire war by a Japanese citizen. In fact, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team consisting entirely of Japanese-American soldiers was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the war, lost almost 10,000 soldiers and at one point lost 800 men in saving the lives of 200 in another unit. On a micro level this is the story of two families. The first is a Japanese-American family imprisoned in a camp in Utah. Like the rest they were given 10 days to take care of personal affairs and were allowed to bring what they could carry. The father, who had experienced success as a baseball player had to leave his job and take his wife & two sons to the camp. One son had just received a baseball scholarship to the University of San Francisco and gave that up. The other family also had a father who had experienced baseball success on the professional level and was in the Army assigned to the Utah camp. His son was serving in the Pacific and his daughter was working at the camp teaching music to Japanese children. The story is how all their lives intersect as they experience life in the camp. Needless to say many of the citizens of the nearby community in Utah were not happy about the camp and showed extreme prejudice toward their fellow American citizens of Japanese descent. It all comes to a climax when the baseball team made up of Japanese prisoners challenges the local semi-pro team. If you like baseball and WWII this is a good combination. Enjoy. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 05/03/2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, TRAILER, 442ND COMBAT REGIMENTAL TEAM