American Pastime

This movie should be presented as Middle School curriculum across the U. S. The screenwriter and director do a great job creating an entertaining and historical movie that provokes a myriad of emotion with a humanitarian message. I love that American Pastime brings attention to Japanese American's love for baseball. The California 'Nisei' baseball league that continues to thrive to this day, was originated after the Japanese Americans were released form the Internment camps after WWII. I had the privilege to compete in this league for 15 years and continue to support it. This is a sleeper of a movie that can be enjoyed by any generation, especially if you find romance in baseball, history and family.

The producers of this movie should team with Clint Eastwood to create an blockbuster honoring the 442nd. "Go For Broke"

I loved this movie. The movie was much different then you would think it would be. the movie is about WW2 Japenese-Amereican Interns and how they coped with their internment. I was lucky enough to be there when the producer and the writer of the book "Through Diamond" who helped with the research and the making of this movie. they answered many questions about the movie. they made it more clear even though it was already a very clear movie. everything about this movie was great. The acting, the cinematography, and the construction of the interment camp(they found the actual blueprints of the internment camp). I would recommend everyone to see it or go buy the DVD when it goes on the market.

American history has some dark moments. The internment camps involving 10,000 or so Japanese-Americans is one of these dark moments. As a teacher, most of what I have encountered on the subject is bleak documentary, and I had to really press myself to check out this DVD from the library. I am so glad I did. This movie honors those who suffered the indignities of wrongful paranoid prejudice. Harsh words, but in retrospect that's what it came down to. The director put together a movie that follows two families and their experiences during their internment time at Topaz, located in Utah. One family is Japanese-American, and the other is the point of view of the white "all American" family, the father, one of the soldiers based at the camp. The movie is all about dignity, doing what is right, and letting go of the wrongs. The centerpiece of using baseball, the American Pastime, adds the lighter moments to the movie. Overall, the movie is well-done, well-acted, and delivers illuminating historical information. I truly had no idea that so many Japanese-Americans willingly joined the service during WWII. The special features mini-doc is a must see. A family movie, although there is some language, it is recommended viewing.

This film premiered Sunday at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. While there have been a number of excellent documentaries on this subject, this is the first commercial film I have seen which has the potential for such broad appeal with American audiences. The director has assembled a wonderful cast of actors--both veterans and new, young actors. Gary Cole gives a subtle, but authentic performance as the military supervisor of the camp. Excellent supporting roles by Seth Sakai,Sarah Drew,Judy Ongg and Susanna Thompson add to the vitality of this ensemble. Newcomers Aaron Yoo and Leonardo Nam as the Namuro brothers are impressive. Not enough good things can be said about the Japanese veteran actor, Masatoshi Nakamura, who plays the father of the Namuro family. It is a dynamic performance and his character is the strength of this story. Shot on location in Utah, the film delivers a hard look at the Topaz internment camp and the realities of the daily lives of the interns and their captors. The mixture of period archival footage frames the story for the audience whose knowledge of the subject is minimal. Using baseball and jazz as a narrative device, this is a film the children and grandchildren of the World War II generation need to see.

Full disclosure: I'm caucasian, married into an Asian family, although not a Japanese one. This film is well-done, well-acted, well-written and fair to both sides. The sides are the Japanese- Americans, v. the Townies, which includes the garrison guarding the camp. The obvious tension is there, but it's not universal: some locals are twisted cracker jerks; some are decent people. The inmates, male and female, are genuine victims of injustice, so our sympathy generally moves in one direction, appropriately. The story is of the adjustments the Japanese- Americans make for their captors, and the manner in which one interracial couple adjusts to falling in love and growing up in a situation as distorted as an internment camp. It's all believable, the dialogue is good and believable, and the film is well worth seeing. And it's subtitled in the right places.