by Joseph Davis, Contributing Writer
April 7, 1945. The largest battleship the world has ever seen is out to sea, escorts guiding her to her destination of Okinawa to combat allied landings. Soon, she is beset on all sides by American carrier-based aircraft, with little air cover to defend herself. That is where we find ourselves in the opening scene of this month’s pick for Out of Market: The Great War of Archimedes, which quite honestly has been on my radar for quite some time. This film, set in Japan during the interwar period for most of its runtime, is about war, but not one where the plot revolves around battles at sea, on the ground, or in the air. No, this movie is a lot different, with the battles taking place in board rooms, where the weapons of choice are equations and numbers, and numbers never lie.
Author’s note: this movie, while largely dealing with non-warfare military actions, still depicts scenes of war, such as gore and other depictions of violence and death. Viewer discretion is advised.
The first thing I want to discuss is our main character, Tadashi Kai (Masaki Suda), a mathematical prodigy who, despite being a pacifist, agrees to work with Admiral Yamamoto (Hiroshi Tachi) and his staff to investigate the plans for what would become the Yamato class, the largest battleships ever built. I find Kai as a character to be particularly interesting: unafraid to speak his mind about warfare in an, at the time, highly militaristic culture, and whose first love is for numbers and the story they can tell. It makes it interesting as well when Kai’s own nature has to combat with the navy’s rules and regulations. However, he cannot use this same math to understand why he’s so compelled to help with a conflict over the choice in design of a warship that he inherently believes is a waste of money regardless of the choice. Ultimately, it leads him to become a character who is manipulated by those around him to make a series of choices that, while achieving his personal goal, also works to undermine it as well. It motivates him to try and save lives, but for reasons he shouldn’t be able to stand behind.
The next aspect I want to discuss is the overall setting, namely the fact that this is set in a time before war would break out between America and Japan, after Japan had left the League of Nations. You get to see glimpses of the rivalries at play within the Japanese armed forces at the time: the navy being concerned at the growing influence of the army and of the future of naval warfare. A lot of what is discussed in the film comes with the power of hindsight at play, but it still does a fantastic job of showing the intense factors at play, as Kai is not only pulled in for reviewing a design some do not want, but is being used as a pawn for an intense personal and professional rivalry between multiple branches of a military and its leaders. I feel that this is both something that casual viewers and history buffs alike can grasp on to, as you can see the problems that we read about playing out.
The last thing I want to discuss is the one negative I have for this movie. There are some points where we are given narration, and in most cases, it’s particularly helpful. It gives us an idea of the time period we are in, explaining Japan’s actions prior to the movie such as it leaving the League of Nations and expanding into China, that otherwise might feel out of context if brought up otherwise. However, there are also moments where it appears, such as explaining how much the cost of a ship would be in modern times, that I just feel is unnecessary. When it works, it adds depth to the movie that I do appreciate, but when it doesn’t, it just pulls me out of the film when I want to be more engrossed. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s definitely noticeable.
Ultimately, I would recommend this movie, because it gives a perspective to a side of the Second World War that we do not get to see as often as it would be appropriate. Admittedly, this isn’t as dark of a subject as a lot of those that could be at play from the Japanese side of the war, but it is still a story worth telling, and of a character who is a participant in something he opposes, but can’t make himself stay away from. The character of Kai alone, and what he means to both those who want to build the Yamato and those who stand against it, is more than enough reason to watch this film.
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