Blood Oath (1990) Movie Script
1
(SOFT CLANGING MUSIC)
(SOMBRE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)
(BIRDS CHIRP)
(Man speaks Indonesian)
CAPTAIN: Here? This is it?
WOMAN: Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Sergeant, get on with it.
MAN: OK. This is it. Come on.
Come with me.
Dig.
Prisoner Ikeuchi...
..dig!
MAN: Dig.
The rest of you, get over here.
Get moving.
MAN: Move.
Get digging.
MAN: Dig, you lot.
Get your backs into it.
Come on. Speedo. Speedo.
Come on. Dig.
Put your backs into it.
Dig. Dig, you mongrel.
That's it.
I want photographs of everything.
Sir.
I mean everything.
(BIRDS CAW)
(Gives order in Japanese)
Stop digging.
Stop digging.
Max.
Sarge.
Show me that.
Give me a hand with this, Max.
Get out of it.
Turn him over.
Holy Jesus.
You murdering bastard.
(Speaks Japanese)
Get the body out.
Take it easy with it.
Get on with it.
Dig!
MAN: Dig!
(Speaks Japanese)
Oh, smart-arse.
Keenan, don't be a bloody fool.
Put that thing away.
MAN: War's over, sunshine.
KEENAN: Get on with it.
(CAR HORN BLARES)
(PHONE RINGS)
MAN: Played football
with this bloke.
Prick of a man off the field, but
Jesus, did he have a boot on him.
Poor bastard.
COOPER: Mitchell?
CORBETT: Still in the hospital.
Private Girlack?
Repatriated.
Private Tillson?
Repatriated.
Private Simmons?
Simpson?
According to this
he's still posted as missing.
Simmons. S-I-M-M-O-N-S.
Repatriated. Flew out two days ago.
What are they trying to do to me?
You've got their sworn statements.
Can't ask statements in the witness
box, "Did this bloke beat you?"
It'll be difficult running
these trials without witnesses.
We're not here for vengeance.
We're here to give these people
a fair trial.
Captain, meet Mr Sheedy-
'Sydney Herald'.
MAN: Your call.
Captain Cooper,
our chief prosecutor.
I heard a press party
was due in.
SHEEDY: Yeah, you're looking at it.
'Scuse me, Major. I'll come back.
See you later, Captain.
Thank you, Mr Sheedy.
This Private Mitchell
you've got in the hospital.
I need him on the stand. He's my
only witness against Takahashi.
Mitchell's been cleared
for repatriation.
There is nothing I can do.
Leave him alone.
Delay his repatriation.
I won't need him for long.
Can't do it.
Anyway, we haven't got Takahashi
yet, so the point is academic.
I'd have him if it wasn't for this
constant paper war with the Yanks.
We've got complete cooperation
from the Americans.
Look, they've promised Takahashi.
You'll get Takahashi.
In the meantime,
tighten the screws on Ikeuchi.
Break the number two man.
Give me witnesses, I'll break him.
Break him into little bloody pieces.
Bob...
..the war's over.
We're lawyers, not soldiers.
Yeah.
CORBETT: Captain. Four more flyers
missing in the area.
Fenton, Smith, O'Donnell and Rogers.
Were they captured?
Don't know.
Why weren't there flyers
in the prison camp?
It's a good question.
I'm gonna talk to Mitchell.
Captain. Mr Matsugae
is waiting to see you.
Who's Matsugae?
Japanese defense counsel.
Oh.
Captain.
Mr Matsugae, can this wait?
I do have a problem, Captain.
I see.
I have no witnesses to cross-examine
in defense of my clients.
These statementsI cannot
cross-examine a statement.
I'm trying to get witnesses,
Mr Matsugae.
Can you take this up with Major
Roberts? He's the judge advocate.
I spoke to Major Roberts,
but he wasn't much help, I'm afraid.
I was hoping...
..you could talk to him for me.
I'll see what I can do.
Is that all?
Also, the defendants
did not understand
the presumption of innocence.
I know it's different in Japan,
but you have to explain to them
that they are presumed innocent
until they are proven guilty.
Yes. They do not understand this.
Also, in Japan,
they do not have contact
with a defense counsel before trial.
They are very suspicious of me.
I see your problem, but they'll
have to adapt, Mr Matsugae.
Unless they want to plead guilty.
In which case,
we can pack up and go home.
If you'll excuse me,
I've got work to do.
I cannot run the defense
and the prosecution.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Still.
Now, Takahashi staff have you
checked Naval Command in Tokyo?
CORBETT: Done that.
They're working on it.
Camp legal officerwhere's he?
Shimada.
Americans won't release him yet.
Adjutants, signals officers?
Where are they?
Gone to ground.
Find them.
They're all over Japan, sir.
I don't care if they're shacked up at
Mount bloody Fuji. Find them, Jack.
I hear you've got 100 defendants.
Should be quite a spectacle.
We live in hope.
Jack Corbett,
Sheedy from the 'Herald'.
Oh, right.
G'day.
Everyone at home's right behind you,
screaming for blood.
Want to do this story properly?
Talk to Mr Matsugae.
Presumption of innocence?
Can't see that
selling a lot of newspapers.
There you go.
No.
CORBETT: Captain.
Private Mitchell, Captain Cooper.
I need your help.
(Mumbles incoherently)
You say you overheard Takahashi
discussing executions with Ikeuchi.
Was it a direct order?
Was Takahashi
actually ordering executions?
When was it?
Was it 1943?
1944?
Try and remember the month.
For God's sake, Bill!
Trials.
Bloody trials.
You don't wanna
try those bastards in a court.
You wanna try 'em against a wall.
What are you doing?
Excuse us, Sister. We just...
Just doing my job.
You're not allowed in here.
I'll be a minute.
These patients
are my responsibility.
I'm asking you to leave.
What am I supposed to do?
I'm prosecuting the bastards
that did this.
I've gotta make certain
he's on the plane tomorrow.
You know how many witnesses I've got?
Let him sleep. Let him go home.
(MAN CRIES OUT)
(Speaks Indonesian)
Fenton. Fenton.
These boys have been through enough.
Out! Both of you.
Have a good trip home, mate.
It's alright, Jimmy, I'm right here.
I'm right here.
Fenton? Didn't you say Fenton
was one of the flyers?
That's Jimmy Fenton, sir. He wasn't
a pilot. He was captured in '42.
Sir.
From Major Roberts, sir.
Takahashi.
About bloody time.
(ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)
Thanks.
Thanks a lot.
I hear you were in the hospital
yesterday, Bob.
It's not on. I've just had the chief
medical officer doing his block.
Stay out of the hospital, huh?
Morning.
Major Roberts?
Major Beckett.
Baron Takahashi.
SHEEDY: Who's the Yank?
I don't know.
How was the flight?
Damn long.
Captain Cooper, meet Major Beckett.
Chief Liaison Officer, Supreme
Command, War Crimes Trials.
Captain Cooper
is our chief prosecuting officer.
Oh.
Major.
You guys have taken on a big job.
Major Beckett is here
as an observer.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah.
Every little bit
helps the big show back in Tokyo.
Major.
See you boys later.
SHEEDY: Well, he looks
pretty guilty to me.
ROBERTS: In here, Major.
You too, Bob.
Get some tea and coffee
organised, George.
BECKETT: My God.
That's a hell of a trip 15 hours.
COOPER: It's a long way from Tokyo
even in a C-47, Major.
We fought a war together. We might
as well clean up the peace together.
Takahashi's conviction will bring us
one step closer to the emperor.
What? You mean you guys don't know?
Hirohito's been granted
immunity from prosecution.
What are you talking about?
What genius dreamt that up?
Well, it's very simple, Captain.
You use the conquered leaders
effectively
and everything
will fall into place.
We're not going
to sacrifice the Japanese leaders,
we're going to use them.
Look at Europe after the
first warGermany was humiliated.
That was a mistake. Bad mistake.
Seem to recall you blokes
were in charge of that one too.
Hate to think we couldn't learn
from our errors.
You're thinking more along the lines
of what the British did in India?
A handful of British puppets ran
the Hindus for hundreds of years -
the British Raj.
And Japan?
The American Raj?
You're not dealing
with a Western culture, Major.
Japanese history's barbaric -
look at what they did.
If you don't humiliate
the blokes at the top,
nothing's gonna change.
You've got to
understand the politics.
I'll bear that in mind, Major,
when I'm prosecuting some fanatic
who swore an oath to the emperor
to wipe us all off
the face of the earth.
Captain.
(DOOR SLAMS)
(Matsugae speaks Japanese)
(Speaks Japanese)
(SOLDIERS SHOUT IN JAPANESE)
(Man gives order in Japanese)
(CROWD YELLS ANGRILY)
(Woman yells in Indonesian)
(Man yells in Indonesian)
KEENAN: Get back!
(Woman screams)
MAN: You can't come in. Get back.
MAN: Go. Stay back, will you?
When you can,
duck out and contact Tokyo.
Might have something.
Don't bet on it.
If we don't get Takahashi's staff,
we won't have much fun.
(CROWD SHOUTS ANGRILY)
MAN: Quiet!
Settle down!
MAN: Quiet!
MAN: Quiet!
Settle down.
(Man taps pen on glass)
I hearby convene the Australian
War Crimes Tribunal, Ambon,
in accordance with the
Australian War Crimes Act, 1945.
The accused are charged
under Section 3
of the Australian War Crimes Act
with deliberate and concerted
ill treatment and murder
of prisoners of war.
How do you plead?
(Speaks Japanese)
Not guilty.
(Speaks Japanese)
Not guilty.
(Repeats 'not guilty' in Japanese)
(Repeats plea)
(Repeats plea)
(Repeats plea)
MAN: Settle down!
(CROWD YELLS)
(Repeats plea in Japanese)
ROBERTS: Order!
(Repeats plea)
ROBERTS: Order!
Put up all the shutters
and shut the doors.
MAN: OK, close them up.
(CROWD KEEPS YELLING
OUTSIDE)
Do you swear the evidence
you will give this court
will be the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
I solemnly swear.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi...
..you were responsible
for the Imperial Japanese Navy's
fleet headquarters
on the island of Ambon?
Yes.
But the 20th garrison unit
responsible for the prison camp
was entirely in the hands
of Captain Ikeuchi.
Vice-Admiral, how do you explain
the mass grave located at Laha?
I know nothing about these soldiers.
But you have seen the graves?
Yes.
300 Australians,
some beheaded,
the rest bayonetted to death.
You were in command in February 1942.
Captain Ikeuchi was your subordinate.
So who ordered
these men to be killed?
I know nothing about these men.
Vice-Admiral,
these men were on the island,
but they were
never in the prison camp.
Now, in all these sworn statements
there's not one single mention
of what happened to these men.
Now, the choice is very simple.
Either you ordered your men to
execute these 300 prisoners of war,
or you've failed
to order them not to.
You were the responsible officer.
You were in command.
I know nothing about these men.
I have a statement here
from a Private W. Mitchell.
I'm sure
you'll remember Private Mitchell.
He was assigned as a gardener
at your house.
Private Mitchell spoke Japanese.
He states that he heard you
discussing executions
with Captain Ikeuchi.
He is lying!
Objection, Your Honour.
Private Mitchell is not in court.
Private Mitchell cannot be
cross-examined if he is not here.
How well did he speak Japanese?
Captain Cooper?
I don't know.
Sustained.
Vice-Admiral, what did you do
with captured Australian airmen?
If airmen
were shot down and captured,
they would have been
placed in the prison camps.
Was it not Japanese policy
to execute captured airmen?
I am not aware of such a policy.
Unless, of course, they had
violated international law,
in which case they
would have been court-martialled.
What happened to the records
of your command, Vice-Admiral?
They were destroyed
during many bombing raids.
Bombing raids
of astonishing accuracy.
Did you put a sign on the roof
saying 'Please bomb here'?
MATSUGAE: Objection!
Captain Cooper, is this relevant?
Yes, it is, sir.
These courts martial of Australian
airmen for which we have no records -
exactly how many airmen
were court-martialled, Vice-Admiral?
I am not aware that any Australian
airmen were captured on Ambon.
(AEROPLANE ENGINE HUMS)
Excuse me, Sister.
You've got a patient called Fenton?
Jimmy Fenton, yeah.
Can I talk to him?
I'm afraid he's not really
with us at the moment, Captain.
When could I talk to him?
Jimmy Fenton's hardly spoken
in four months. What's the problem?
Four Australian airmen
went down near here.
I know it sounds silly, but one of
them was called Fenton, Eddy Fenton.
Hey, sir.
What have we got here?
Four more from Tokyo, sir.
MAN: Right, turn to the side.
MAN: OK, mate.
Next.
Alright, turn to the side.
COOPER: More guards.
What we need is Takahashi's staff,
his legal officer.
Shimada?
That's the bloke.
He can verify Takahashi's orders.
If we could
find the signals officer,
that might solve the puzzle
of the missing records.
It's not much of a puzzle, Jack.
MAN: Captain.
Got a minute?
Sure.
Take a look at this.
(Reads) "Bastards, leave Eddy alone.
Where's Eddy?"
Who said this?
Jimmy Fenton.
I asked around. He did
have a brother, Edward Air Force.
Eddy Fenton. Get the file
on the flyers. That's great. Thanks.
You're out of bounds, Sheedy.
What was their last radio position?
Trying to make contact
with the civilised world.
He's got better things to do.
Major Roberts said it would be OK.
North of Cape Hila.
3 degrees 32 south,
128 degrees 5 minutes east.
Radioed they were hit,
then silence.
That was it. Close to the island.
What date?
July '44.
Jimmy would've been here.
Eddy must've been on the island.
Wake 'em up.
Alright.
Photos, Jack, got 'em? Thanks.
Move it. Move it!
(Keenan speaks Japanese)
Do you recognise these men?
Don't play silly buggers, Tojo.
Answer the question.
No.
(Speaks Japanese)
Captain, I must protest.
Captain, what are you doing?
Mass trial, mass interrogation.
The defendants have a legal right to
counsel during questioning, Captain.
You wanted to see me.
Do you recognise these men?
MATSUGAE: You do not
have to answer, Vice-Admiral.
I cannot be of assistance.
ROBERTS: That's it.
You're closed down, Captain.
My office now. You too, Mr Matsugae.
They were on the island.
I'm going to find them.
Leave them to me.
There won't be a mark on them.
Put 'em to bed.
Move it.
OK, it's over. Put 'em to bed.
Move it!
Come on, you heard the man.
If you've got the evidence,
where is it?
If not, stop making
a bloody fool of yourself.
I'm not here.
Where are the bodies?
I don't know.
If they were captured on Ambon,
they were killed here.
How do you know that?
They're not alive,
they weren't sent home,
and they're not listed
as having died in the camp.
Why are you chasing four phantoms
when you have hard evidence
of mass graves -
over 300 bodies?
There are no witnesses
and no records.
But four flyers
went down in July 1944
and one of them's
got a brother in that hospital.
You're making a mistake
a lawyer can't afford to make.
You're losing your objectivity.
Don't patronise me, Major,
for Christ's sake.
Takahashi and Ikeuchi
are the only senior officers
that were here in 1942.
And Takahashi
will say he was somewhere else
when 315 men were butchered
and get off.
You can't waltz into court
with perhaps's and maybes.
Do I make myself clear, Captain?
Crystal clear, sir.
An apology to Mr Matsugae
is in order.
I apologise, Mr Matsugae.
Thank you, Captain.
That's all, Captain.
Maybe those flyers
weren't captured at all.
Maybe they died
when their plane was shot down.
Have you considered that, Captain?
No, I haven't, Major.
And I thought you weren't here.
How is he going?
Eddy!
Eddy, it's me.
MATSUGAE: Vice-Admiral,
what were your first actions
when you took over
command of Ambon?
I called a meeting
of all my officers.
I told them that Japan is not a
signatory to the Geneva Convention
for the treatment of prisoners,
but I insist
you behave as if we are.
So your orders were... your men
were to adhere to international law?
Yes.
Objection.
This island was governed by
Imperial Japanese Navy regulations.
I withdraw the question.
Vice-Admiral,
you spent some time in England.
Oh, yes. I obtained my degree in law
at Oxford University.
And you joined the service
upon returning to Japan?
Yes. The navy.
You are the only Japanese member
of the European golf club?
Objection. This is irrelevant.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi wasn't here
to improve his golf handicap.
(LAUGHTER)
MAN: Silence!
This evidence is essential
to gain an understanding
of Vice-Admiral Takahashi's attitude
towards Australian prisoners.
Objection overruled.
Continue, please.
Vice-Admiral...
..I want you
to consider this very carefully.
How do you explain the bodies
of the prisoners in the mass graves?
(Clears throat)
I was not present when the
Australians surrendered on Ambon.
I was away
attending a meeting in Manila.
It is in the records.
Captain Ikeuchi was here,
but he never told me
that such mass graves existed.
You would have to
ask him the details
of what happened to those men.
I do know that during my command
we buried the prisoners
who had died of tropical diseases,
or who had been killed
during Allied bombing raids,
along with my own men.
I'm very distressed
by what I now know.
It appears to bring
no credit to my command.
But I cannot be held responsible
for actions which took place
during my absence.
COOPER: Can't you see
what Takahashi's up to?
"It wasn't me.
Captain Ikeuchi ran the camp.
"If there were beatings and
executions, Ikeuchi was responsible.
"I saw nothing. I heard nothing."
No executions.
Look, mate, when I find
more evidence of executions,
and let me tell you I intend to,
then you're going to cop the lot.
Takahashi's going to bury you.
And your only defense
is that there weren't any.
We found 315 bodies!
No executions.
What's the matter with you?
Look, it isn't going to work.
They were executed,
and he wasn't here.
He was here when those airmen
were here, though, wasn't he?
You do not understand Japanese ways.
Your trouble is
you don't understand anything else.
Japanese officer very strong.
Japanese Vice-Admiral very powerful,
blame Japanese officer
for executions.
No executions.
I've met some dumb pricks,
but he takes the cake.
He's a bit feudal for you.
Why would an American
in charge of war trials
bring Takahashi here
so we can prosecute him?
Make sure he wasn't convicted?
I told you,
Roberts has to authorise this.
They're the rules.
Turn away for five minutes.
It's not the rules
I'm worried about. Look at him.
I just want to
show him some photographs.
Two minutes, no more.
Jimmy...
..I want you
to look at something for me.
You know who that is?
Come on, who is it?
Jimmy.
Captain, were you present
at the execution of the 300 prisoners
at Laha airstrip?
I know nothing of any executions.
I submit details
of autopsies carried out
on the remains of the men
dug from the mass graves.
The report shows that these men
were beheaded or bayonetted to death.
Now, Captain,
did you or Vice-Admiral Takahashi
order the execution
of these prisoners?
I know nothing of any executions.
How do you account for
the 300 bodies? Mass suicide, was it?
ROBERTS: Captain Cooper.
Do you recognise these men?
ROBERTS: Captain Cooper,
is there evidence
to suggest these men might...
Yes.
You do recognise these men?
I was taken out last night...
That's not what I meant.
These men were here.
MATSUGAE: Objection.
They were in this camp.
Objection!
What did you do with them?
Captain Cooper.
How is it that not a single
Australian airman survived on Ambon?
We know planes came down near here.
Objection!
Not just these four, any airmen.
Captain Cooper!
Have you any further questions,
Captain?
No, sir.
Mr Matsugae?
No questions, sir.
I request an adjournment while a
search is made through Tokyo records.
A search for what?
Records of courts martial
held in this region
between 1942 and the surrender.
Courts martial of whom,
Captain?
Captured pilots, sir.
Objection.
Overruled.
I also have warrants for key members
of Vice-Admiral Takahashi's staff.
I need time
for their delivery into custody.
This tribunal
is adjourned for 24 hours
while the prosecution's requests
are considered.
"Today Mum and I went
to Palm Beach for a trip.
"We got on top of
a double-decker bus from Wynyard,
"and, as it was a clear day,
got a lovely view,
"especially of the harbor
as we crossed the bridge.
"They say Sydney people
rave about the bridge and harbor,
"but you can't help it.
"Truly, Jimmy,
it's as wonderful as ever.
"Don't stop thinking
of the fun we used to have..."
(Voice fades)
MAN: G'day!
(CAR HORN BEEPS)
(GAVEL POUNDS)
MAN: Thank you, gentlemen.
Captain Cooper, Supreme Allied
Command headquarters in Tokyo
is unable to guarantee production
of the records you require
within a reasonable time.
It also appears that the prosecution
has not located any of Vice-Admiral
Takahashi's staff at this time.
On both these grounds
we're unable to grant
your request for an adjournment.
ROBERTS: Does the prosecution
wish to call any further witnesses
in the case
against Vice-Admiral Takahashi?
What witnesses, Major Roberts?
Mr Matsugae?
The defense also rests.
Counsel, proceed with summing up.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi
is a man of special qualities,
educated in one of
the finest universities in England.
MAN: Next.
PRIVATE TALBOT: Pockets.
Take him.
Come on.
Just up against the wall.
Just hold it still.
Alright, to the side.
COOPER: The evidence of brutality
submitted in the sworn statements
of the Australian prisoners
is now given added weight
by the discovery of the mass graves
at Laha airstrip.
And the fact
that not a single Australian airman
listed as missing
in this region survived.
The question
is one of responsibility.
The defense that these acts
were committed by Captain Ikeuchi
fails to address Vice-Admiral
Takahashi's responsibility
for the actions of his subordinates.
It is not necessary to establish
that he personally ordered
the deaths of these prisoners...
..because it is plainly clear
that he and only he
had the power to prevent them.
This man, who had every advantage...
..was highly educated...
..in the top echelon
of Japanese society...
..this man of 'honour'...
..commanded the prisoner of war camp
with the highest death rate
in the entire war!
The prosecution submits
that Vice-Admiral Takahashi
receive the harshest
possible penalty.
This afternoon, Vice-Admiral Baron
Takahashi same spelling comma,
who was accused
of mass murder and mistreatment
of Australian prisoners of war
under his command
on the island of Ambon,
um... 700 miles
north of Australia, comma...
..was acquitted of all charges,
full stop.
He is bloody guilty.
ROBERTS: I think
it was the right decision.
Obviously you do.
Here.
MAN: Sir.
Why didn't we
get any records out of Tokyo?
Was that the deal? We could
have Takahashi but no records?
I realise you're disappointed,
but the Takahashi case is closed.
No, it bloody isn't.
Well, you've still got the
real bastard, Ikeuchi, to prosecute.
The same thing will happen.
We've got 300 bodies
and no witnesses.
Why couldn't you have waited
until we located the four flyers?
Because you haven't got them.
Because they're phantoms.
You're concerned about justice,
this is justice.
Prosecute Ikeuchi. He's mentioned
on every sworn statement.
Now, he really is a monster.
The people at home will be happy,
the army will be happy,
everybody will be happy, and you'll
be doing the job you came to do.
That's not justice, that's politics.
Very few men have the opportunity to
contribute to something like this.
Sir.
The world is watching, Bob.
Don't throw it all away
by bending a few rules.
They're all we have.
You buy that, don't you?
You really buy that.
(KNOCK AT DOOR)
Captain, we've got him.
The signals officer.
He's waiting for us now
in interrogation.
Maybe he knows something
about the flyers.
CORBETT: Lieutenant Tanaka,
you were the signals officer
under Baron Takahashi.
MATSUGAE: Answer the question,
Lieutenant.
Yes, I was one of three.
Did you ever send or receive
any signals
relating to the court martial
of prisoners of war on the island?
I must have. Yes, I think so.
Was it Japanese policy to send
signals of every court martial?
I don't know. I sent those signals
I was ordered to send.
Did you ever intercept transmissions
from Allied planes?
Yes. We were
under continuous attack.
Do you recall
one particular flight...?
July 24, 1944.
We think the plane
may have gone down near here.
No.
Think back.
July 1944. The island
was not under heavy air attack.
One particular flight,
reconnaissance.
It would surely be difficult
to recall one particular flight,
Captain.
Answer the question, Lieutenant.
Much has happened since I left here.
I was on leave in Nagasaki
when the war ended.
The lieutenant lost his parents
and three sisters
in the atomic bomb blast.
I see.
This is a waste of time.
Do you intend laying charges
against Lieutenant Tanaka, Captain?
Not at this time.
In view of the fact
that Lieutenant Tanaka
surrendered by his own free will,
unlike the other defendants,
I formally request
he be allowed to return home.
Yeah, that's fine.
No, wait. Keep him.
Lieutenant Tanaka may be used
in the case against Captain Ikeuchi.
That will be all, Mr Matsugae.
MAN: Attention.
(Jimmy moans and sobs)
Jimmy, what is it?
Is it Eddy?
It's Eddy, isn't it?
(CROWD CHEERS)
(Mouths words)
(THUNDERCLAP)
Ah!
Jimmy, what are you doing?
Eddy...
I remember.
No, no. It's this way.
COOPER: There's no rush, Jimmy.
You'll be alright.
This way.
He doesn't know where he is.
Keep going.
Come on, get the lead
out of your pants, Tojo.
This is it.
(Screams) Eddy!
Here.
Are you sure, Jimmy?
Dig.
Geneva Convention
say officers not do manual work.
Cooper's convention say Ikeuchi dig
or shovel comes into contact
with head.
Now dig.
Come on! Heads down, thumbs up.
MAN: Captain Cooper.
Phantoms, Frank. One to four.
COOPER: Sit down here
on the, ah... chair.
Raise your right hand.
Do you swear the evidence
you're about to give this tribunal
will be the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
I swear.
(Jimmy coughs)
Private, how long were you
a prisoner of war?
How long?
Sister, are you sure Private Fenton
is capable of testifying?
Over three years.
Were you ever beaten
during that time?
ROBERTS: Answer the question,
Private.
I was beaten.
Who carried out the beatings?
(Coughs) Ikeuchi.
Th-the one... the one
we called the 'black bastard'.
They br... they broke
eight of my ribs.
Th-they split my skull.
Almost bloody crippled me.
(Mutters)
Who gave the orders
for these beatings?
That bastard.
Ikeuchi.
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
(MAN SHOUTS IN JAPANESE)
JIMMY: In one bashing...
there was 30 of us.
(Men shout in Japanese)
And Ikeuchi...
That bloody whistle -
he blew it to stop the beatings.
And he blew it to start
the beatings all over again.
(Men cough and groan)
We lost three good blokes that day.
The rest of us...
No-one had the right
to do that to us.
We were soldiers.
Bit... bit later on...
..when the guards weren't looking,
I was pulled away
by some of my mates.
I crawled as fast as I could
to a hut and got underneath it.
S-sort of sat there for a while.
Hours went by.
I don't know how many.
The beatings went on...
Private...
Private, what else did you see?
What else?
The truck.
Yes. A truck was coming.
(MEN SPEAK IN JAPANESE)
Eddy!
It's me! It's Jimmy!
Can you hear me? Eddy! EDDY!
Sister Littell,
you assured this tribunal
this man was fit to testify.
That is my professional opinion,
sir.
It's my advice
to this tribunal he is not.
(Screams) I AM!
I'm... I'm fit to testify.
Were these the men with your brother?
Face was a mess...
But, yeah, looks like them.
Where were your brother
and the three men held?
I-Isolation block.
Away from the rest of us.
(MEN GROAN AND SHOUT)
Most of the guards were
out of the camp on work parties.
So I got under the wire.
I could see Ikeuchi.
IKEUCHI: Bombing!
Bombing!
Your mission was bombing!
MAN: No! Reconnaissance.
Bombing!
(Groans) Reconnaissance.
You tell!
(Chokes)
You tell me all.
Reconnaissance. Rec...
Ah!
Bombing.
(Screams)
Bombing!
(Screams)
Bombing!
(Screams)
I submit records of flight details
showing that
Flight Lieutenant Edward Fenton
was on a reconnaissance mission.
This plane was not armed with bombs.
Flight Lieutenant Smith,
Flight Sergeant O'Donnell
and Corporal Rogers
were also onboard.
Eddy... Eddy!
Eddy, the bastard's gone!
EDDY! EDDY!
(Whispers) Eddy...
Eddy, it's me. It's Jimmy.
Eddy, it's Jimmy!
Jimmy...
I-I slip out at night...
..give him a smoke,
try and keep his spirits up.
When was the last time you saw Eddy?
It was...
..I think... I think morning.
Yeah, I remember. It was morning.
Jap guards, truck.
(Guard speaks Japanese)
(Speaks Japanese)
(TRUCK DRIVES AWAY)
I took off under the wire.
I followed the truck till it
turned off near the old ruin.
I was running.
I got as close as I could.
I could see Eddy,
and the other three
and a couple of guards,
and Ikeuchi, Japs in the car.
Mu-muffled voices.
T-too far away.
I was almost nabbed by a Jap patrol.
I heard Eddy scream
as I hid in the bushes.
Murdered him.
Killed my brother. Mongrel bastards!
(Speaks Japanese)
YOU FUCKING MURDERING
SAVAGES!
(Screams in Japanese)
ANIMALS! ANIMALS!
EDDY!
(Sobs)
ANIMALS!
(HEAVY, SOMBRE MUSIC)
Want a beer?
Yeah, thanks.
Jimmy Fenton just died.
(HORN TOOTS)
(FAST-PACED TRIBAL DRUMMING)
(Speaks in Japanese)
(Screams)
Who executed the flyers?
I know nothing about... (Groans)
We'll see what you know.
Now, who gave the order?
Who executed the flyers? Who did it?
Names. NAMES! NAMES!
The Christian.
What Christian?
Tanakata.
You'll have to do better than that.
Tanakata. Tanakata.
Tanaka, the signals officer?
Yes.
Jesus Christ.
Next time leave it to the experts.
You better get that seen to.
Sir.
(Sighs deeply)
Hey!
Did you get something out of that?
The name of one of the executioners.
Happy with the way you got it?
You're not much better than them.
Captain Wodami Ikeuchi...
..and Lieutenant Hideo Tanaka...
..you are charged
under Section 3
of the Australian War Crimes Act
with carrying out
the unlawful execution
of RAAF officers and crew-
Rogers, Fenton, O'Donnell and Smith.
How do you plead?
Not guilty.
COOPER: I submit the record
of evidence
given by the late
Private James Fenton,
together with photographs
of the decapitated bodies
of the four officers,
along with their identification tags.
Captain, who gave the order
for the execution of these officers?
I know nothing of any execution.
Private James Fenton
swore under oath
he saw you interrogate
Flight Lieutenant Edward Fenton.
He was lying.
He further stated he followed
a truck carrying the officers
and a car
in which you were a passenger
to a place in the jungle,
to a spot where, only a few days ago,
you dug up the decapitated bodies
of these officers.
Bushido tradition demands
that enemy officers of this rank
be executed by Japanese officers
of equal rank.
Who were they?
Lieutenant Tanaka,
do you recognise these men?
Yes.
When did you first see them?
The morning they were brought
to the court martial building
by Captain Ikeuchi.
Captain Ikeuchi.
Who was in charge
of courts martial on Ambon?
Baron Takahashi... presided over them
with two other officers -
Captain Ikeuchi and
Lieutenant Shimadalegal officer.
Baron Takahashi.
Were you a witness
at this court martial?
No.
What made you believe
it actually took place?
I was told I had been honoured
by Baron Takahashi,
president of the court martial,
to carry out the execution
the Australian prisoners.
'Honoured'.
Why would they honour
a signals officer?
Tradition requires
an officer to be executed
by an officer of equal rank.
What crime did these officers commit
to warrant an execution?
They had bombed innocent civilians.
How could they have bombed civilians?
The records show they
were on a reconnaissance flight.
According to Japanese court martial
they bombed civilians.
According to a court martial
that possibly never took place.
MATSUGAE: Objection!
You are a liar, Lieutenant!
No! Baron Takahashi was in charge.
Nothing could be done
without his express orders.
Nothing!
I protested against his orders for
the mass beating of the prisoners.
I made repeated requests
to Takahashi.
Do something!
Prisoners were dying all around us.
He did nothing.
There was a warehouse full of food.
Takahashi let them die
of starvation.
They were human beings!
There was a court martial.
Look at the records -
they will prove it!
(Ikeuchi laughs)
The records?! There are no records.
Takahashi burned them.
Just like he's burning you,
you poor fool!
Sergeant, remove the prisoner.
(Speaks Japanese)
Banzai!
MEN: BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!
MAN: Get off him.
Sit down!
(Ikeuchi keeps shouting)
BANZAI!
(Shouts in Japanese)
(Laughs)
Sit down!
SIT DOWN!
Captain, I apologise
for this intrusion.
That's alright.
I feel great shame
for what happened in court today.
I defended Vice-Admiral Takahashi
to the letter of the law.
Now I find myself
in a most difficult position.
Did you really believe
that Baron Takahashi was innocent?
You must appreciate
my task was to defend him.
It's Tanaka who is my concern now.
It would be a great injustice
if the innocent
were to be branded
with the shame of the guilty.
Well, I'm not so sure
Tanaka is innocent.
But... he was just following orders.
So was the man he executed,
Mr Matsugae.
Captain...
Better come quick, sir.
Bastard.
I had a special bullet for him.
Find something to cover him with.
Get them out of here.
Come on. Clear out!
Come on.
How can they do that to themselves?
I don't understand these bloody Japs.
What's Beckett coming back for?
Why can't he just put Shimada
on a plane?
You requested Shimada. You're
the reason he's being brought here.
I don't know why Beckett's coming.
He knows we've found
the bodies of those flyers.
What's he gonna say?
There was a court martial?
Takahashi made a mistake?
I don't know.
Whose side are you on?
What's going on in your guts?
We are only here because
those prisoners were Australians.
I intend to make
Lieutenant Shimada available
for Mr Matsugae to question.
Right?
Lieutenant Shimada will verify there
was a legal court martial held.
Cooper doesn't appreciate the
prospect of you turning up as well.
I don't give a damn what
your Captain Cooper appreciates.
Where did you find this guy, anyway?
Who's in charge here?
(Toots horn)
He's due back in Tokyo
the day after tomorrow, Frank.
You've got us for 24 hours,
that's it.
Lieutenant, you came to Ambon
specifically to testify
that these men were court-martialled.
There's not the slightest suggestion
of evidence
to support that, is there?
TANAKA: That's not true.
I acted upon the order
of the court martial!
Resume your seat, Lieutenant.
So Vice-Admiral Takahashi
convened the court martial
and you and Captain Ikeuchi
were both there?
Yes.
And Tokyo was notified
of this court martial
by radio transmissions, of course.
Uh... yes.
Although all records
of these radio transmissions
were bombed here on Ambon.
So I understand.
And all the records in Tokyo
of these radio transmissions
appear to have been lost!
Yes.
Yes.
I'd like to call Major Beckett
to the stand.
PRESIDENT OF THE BENCH:
What purpose, Captain?
To draw upon his expertise
in the area of records, sir.
Very good. Swear Major Beckett in.
If nothing else emerges
from this tribunal,
it will at least be clear
that Allied attempts to bomb
Japanese records
were always highly successful.
Do you swear the evidence
you are about to give
will be the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
I swear.
Captain Cooper.
Major, is it true that during the war
you were a security officer
with US Secret Intelligence?
Yes, it is.
Although I don't see what that has
to do with these proceedings.
Is it also true
that since the surrender
Japanese codes have come into
the hands of the Allies,
and that any signal received
during the war could now be decoded?
The decoding of Japanese signals
will take a considerable
amount of time.
Also, it's highly unlikely
that every signal
between Ambon and Tokyo
would have been intercepted
by Washington.
Yes, but wouldn't any Japanese signal
sent from Ambon
have been intercepted
by your Australian allies?
Wouldn't they
have been intercepted by Darwin?
There's no guarantee, Captain,
as you should know,
that every Japanese signal
was intercepted by anyone.
But if they were,
it is now possible for them
to be decoded
and presented as evidence
in this court, isn't it?
That's classified information,
Captain.
I wouldn't
be able to comment about that.
How would we go about
getting such information?
It would be very difficult, sir.
Perhaps I could be...
These records
were subpoenaed last night.
I've received a message saying
the information's available.
I object! Sir, this information is
classified for reasons of Allied...
It's not your place to object,
Major Beckett. Please sit down.
I object, Your Honour...
I request an adjournment, sir,
to enable the status
of any documents so obtained
to be properly considered.
I adjourn this tribunal for one hour
while this business is sorted out.
Major Roberts,
I wonder if I could see you.
Bad news, I'm afraid, gentlemen.
The information is classified.
They won't release it.
Major.
Bugger.
I'm sorry, Bob.
I wish that had come off for you.
Yeah. Thanks, Frank.
Sir.
Yes?
Come in.
Matsugae.
Tell the gentlemen
what you told me now.
American records will show no signal
about the court martial
because no signal was sent.
Why not?
I don't know.
But I remember no signal was sent.
Too much bombing.
What you are saying is that
a court martial was held
but no signal was sent to Tokyo.
Yes.
I would like to call Lieutenant
Kamura as a witness, Major,
in the defense of Lieutenant Tanaka.
You say there was a court martial
but that no signal was sent.
How do you know a signal wasn't sent
about this particular court martial?
We were under attack. Very difficult
to send signals at that time.
Yes. But how do you know so much
about this court martial?
Were you there?
Yes.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi ordered me
to inform Lieutenant Tanaka
he was to execute one of the flyers.
MATSUGAE: No further questions.
PRESIDENT OF THE BENCH:
Captain Cooper.
Lieutenant... Kamura...
..what was the date of the
court martial of the four flyers?
September 10, 1944.
And no signal was sent because
the island was under heavy air attack?
Yes.
Very heavy air attack.
Was this heavy air attack on the day
of the court martial
or the day after the court martial
or the day after that?
I'm not sure.
Lieutenant,
there was no heavy air attack
in the entire month
of September 1944!
That's not the reason
no signal was sent, is it?
Objection, Your Honour.
Sustained.
Lieutenant, will you tell us exactly
how you informed Lieutenant Tanaka
that he was to execute
Flight Lieutenant Edward Fenton?
I told him
there had been a court martial.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi had given him
the honour of executing
Flight Lieutenant Fenton.
So you told him
there was a court martial
just like you told me,
a few seconds ago,
that no signal had been sent.
There was no court martial,
was there?
That's why no signal was sent,
isn't it?
Objection. He's leading the witness.
There never was...
There never was a court martial.
Captain Cooper.
Was there?
Your Honour!
Captain Cooper.
Why didn't you tell him
there was no court martial?
Stop this line of questioning.
Sit down.
Not until the witness
answers the question.
Sit down!
Why didn't you tell him
there was no court martial?
I was scared.
You were what?
I was scared I would be punished,
I would be court-martialled...
..if I didn't obey an order.
I see.
You were scared.
I know Lieutenant Tanaka.
He might not have
carried out this order
if he had known there was no trial.
Did Lieutenant Tanaka ask to see
a written order for this court martial?
No.
No.
What really happened that day?
I was... at Takahashi's house
at 9:00 in the morning
when he gave the order
to Captain Ikeuchi.
The prisoners were taken
to the place of execution,
and it was finished at 10:30.
I had to report to Takahashi
when the execution was done.
Lieutenant Kamura, were you stationed
on Ambon in February 1942?
Yes.
Did Vice-Admiral Takahashi
give the order for the execution
of the 315 Australian prisoners
near Laha airstrip?
He was responsible. Yes.
Do you believe Captain Ikeuchi
acted on his own?
He decided to execute the pilots
and he chose you to carry it out?
No.
Do you realise where this places you
in the absence of
any court martial proceedings?
I can only say I was carrying out
what I believed to be a lawful order
from my superiors.
The lives of four men.
Surely it warranted something
in writing.
We were at war.
We had to obey orders.
But you are a signals officer.
Didn't you notice that no signals
were sent about this court martial?
You said before you'd questioned
Takahashi's orders.
What could I have done?
There are many questions
that can never be resolved.
Not in this court.
Is there anything you need?
Doing a bit of fraternising,
are we, Private?
Sergeant.
Haven't you got better things to do
than chinwag with these monkeys?
I don't wish to cause trouble.
Keep out of it.
You Jap lovers...
..turn my stomach.
Forgive and forget?
Captain Cooper.
It's a beautiful night.
Not bad at all.
Always that breeze that comes off
the sea in the evenings here.
Yeah.
Listen.
I think there's something
you ought to realise.
Baron Takahashi has been given
a very sensitive appointment
in the pacification program
in Tokyo.
It'd be a damn shame
if there was any more trouble
about what happened here.
What? Like killing
a few hundred Australians?
(Sighs)
There is a bigger game, Cooper.
A grander scale.
You think I don't understand
how you feel?
You think none of this shit
ever happened to our boys?
I'm not saying
the sonofabitch is innocent.
I'm asking you to see
that there are more important things
than what happened on Ambon.
The future of the whole world
is being worked out right now.
I haven't got much use for barons
at the best of times, Major.
But let me tell you,
the future of the world
isn't worked out on a grand scale.
It's worked out by ordinary people
doing their ordinary bloody jobs.
You really don't understand, do you?
We have to use people like Takahashi
to serve our interests.
Takahashi is not serving
our interests.
You're serving his.
And you're not working out
the future of the world, Major.
You're just preventing it
from being different to the past.
PRESIDENT OF THE BENCH:
Thank you, Mr Matsugae.
Captain Cooper.
International law doesn't recognise
obedience to a superior officer
as a defense.
The defendant personally conducted
the brutal execution
of Flight Lieutenant Edward Fenton.
That he did it is not contested.
The question
for this tribunal is this -
did he know
he was committing a crime
or was he ignorant of the fact?
The defendant was lied to
by his superior officers.
The most senior of those officers
has since been acquitted
by this tribunal of any wrongdoing.
Evidence has since become available
that Vice-Admiral Takahashi...
..lied to this tribunal...
..ordered the summary execution
of pilots
and destroyed all records.
This evidence
must be put to better use
than to simply convict
his junior officers.
Officers of insufficient rank,
presumably,
to play any part
in post-war regional politics.
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
Lieutenant Tanaka
previously questioned
the orders from his superiors.
This time, he did not.
His instruction to execute
a defenceless prisoner...
..was represented to him
as a great honour
in the Japanese tradition.
(Breathes nervously)
(Gasps)
It has become
increasingly obvious, sir,
that the overriding fact
in these proceedings
is not the difference between
the Japanese culture and our own
or two sides in an international war.
It is the way in which
power and privilege...
..make victims of those
who have neither.
What choice
did Lieutenant Tanaka have?
What could he have done?
(Speaks in Japanese)
(Gasps)
We all recognise
that the world must go on.
But if a swift political solution
to the Pacific and the Far East
can only be won
at the expense of justice...
..then our grief and our anger
at the barbaric treatment
of our prisoners of war
will not be washed away
in this century.
If this officer is found guilty,
I recommend that mercy
be shown to him.
(MELANCHOLY MUSIC)
Just came to say goodbye.
Off home?
Tomorrow.
Well, thanks for your help.
Sorry about what happened with Jimmy.
What do you think
will happen tomorrow?
I don't know.
Good luck.
Maybe we'll see each other again
in Sydney one day.
(Chuckles softly) Maybe.
You take care of yourself.
You too.
The tribunal
has given lengthy consideration
to the case of Lieutenant Tanaka.
Particularly in respect
of possible mitigating factors
surrounding the question of
whether or not he knew in his mind
he was committing
this unjustifiable crime.
There can be no doubt
that the defendant conducted
the execution
of Flight Lieutenant Fenton.
It should've been the responsibility
of the defendant to confirm
that a legal court martial
had been convened
and that a legal order had been
given pursuant to its decision.
Clearly, he did not so inquire.
Accordingly,
this tribunal has no alternative
but to find the accused
guilty as charged.
This is a capital offence.
The sentence is death.
(Sheedy dictates) Lieutenant Tanaka,
an English-speaking
Christian Japanese...
..ironically, an English-speaking
Christian Japanese, comma,
who gave himself up, comma,
was today sentenced to death...
..comma, sentence
to be carried out immediately.
Full stop.
Take out 'ironically'.
(ROOSTER CROWS)
(PENSIVE MUSIC)
(SOLEMN CHORAL SINGING)
Could you please see that my wife,
Midori, receives this letter?
Sure.
(TRUCK ENGINE STARTS)
(BRISK MILITARY DRUMMING)
(SLOW, MELANCHOLY MUSIC)
KEENAN: Firing party, right turn!
Firing party, order arms!
(Mouths words)
I do not want a blindfold.
I am not frightened of death.
I'm sorry. It's regulations.
Firing party, port arms!
(Mouths words)
Load!
(RIFLES COCK)
Present!
Fire!
Firing party, port arms!
(SAD, HAUNTING MUSIC)
(MOURNFUL MUSIC BUILDS)
(MOURNFUL MUSIC CONTINUES)
(SOFT CLANGING MUSIC)
(SOMBRE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)
(BIRDS CHIRP)
(Man speaks Indonesian)
CAPTAIN: Here? This is it?
WOMAN: Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Sergeant, get on with it.
MAN: OK. This is it. Come on.
Come with me.
Dig.
Prisoner Ikeuchi...
..dig!
MAN: Dig.
The rest of you, get over here.
Get moving.
MAN: Move.
Get digging.
MAN: Dig, you lot.
Get your backs into it.
Come on. Speedo. Speedo.
Come on. Dig.
Put your backs into it.
Dig. Dig, you mongrel.
That's it.
I want photographs of everything.
Sir.
I mean everything.
(BIRDS CAW)
(Gives order in Japanese)
Stop digging.
Stop digging.
Max.
Sarge.
Show me that.
Give me a hand with this, Max.
Get out of it.
Turn him over.
Holy Jesus.
You murdering bastard.
(Speaks Japanese)
Get the body out.
Take it easy with it.
Get on with it.
Dig!
MAN: Dig!
(Speaks Japanese)
Oh, smart-arse.
Keenan, don't be a bloody fool.
Put that thing away.
MAN: War's over, sunshine.
KEENAN: Get on with it.
(CAR HORN BLARES)
(PHONE RINGS)
MAN: Played football
with this bloke.
Prick of a man off the field, but
Jesus, did he have a boot on him.
Poor bastard.
COOPER: Mitchell?
CORBETT: Still in the hospital.
Private Girlack?
Repatriated.
Private Tillson?
Repatriated.
Private Simmons?
Simpson?
According to this
he's still posted as missing.
Simmons. S-I-M-M-O-N-S.
Repatriated. Flew out two days ago.
What are they trying to do to me?
You've got their sworn statements.
Can't ask statements in the witness
box, "Did this bloke beat you?"
It'll be difficult running
these trials without witnesses.
We're not here for vengeance.
We're here to give these people
a fair trial.
Captain, meet Mr Sheedy-
'Sydney Herald'.
MAN: Your call.
Captain Cooper,
our chief prosecutor.
I heard a press party
was due in.
SHEEDY: Yeah, you're looking at it.
'Scuse me, Major. I'll come back.
See you later, Captain.
Thank you, Mr Sheedy.
This Private Mitchell
you've got in the hospital.
I need him on the stand. He's my
only witness against Takahashi.
Mitchell's been cleared
for repatriation.
There is nothing I can do.
Leave him alone.
Delay his repatriation.
I won't need him for long.
Can't do it.
Anyway, we haven't got Takahashi
yet, so the point is academic.
I'd have him if it wasn't for this
constant paper war with the Yanks.
We've got complete cooperation
from the Americans.
Look, they've promised Takahashi.
You'll get Takahashi.
In the meantime,
tighten the screws on Ikeuchi.
Break the number two man.
Give me witnesses, I'll break him.
Break him into little bloody pieces.
Bob...
..the war's over.
We're lawyers, not soldiers.
Yeah.
CORBETT: Captain. Four more flyers
missing in the area.
Fenton, Smith, O'Donnell and Rogers.
Were they captured?
Don't know.
Why weren't there flyers
in the prison camp?
It's a good question.
I'm gonna talk to Mitchell.
Captain. Mr Matsugae
is waiting to see you.
Who's Matsugae?
Japanese defense counsel.
Oh.
Captain.
Mr Matsugae, can this wait?
I do have a problem, Captain.
I see.
I have no witnesses to cross-examine
in defense of my clients.
These statementsI cannot
cross-examine a statement.
I'm trying to get witnesses,
Mr Matsugae.
Can you take this up with Major
Roberts? He's the judge advocate.
I spoke to Major Roberts,
but he wasn't much help, I'm afraid.
I was hoping...
..you could talk to him for me.
I'll see what I can do.
Is that all?
Also, the defendants
did not understand
the presumption of innocence.
I know it's different in Japan,
but you have to explain to them
that they are presumed innocent
until they are proven guilty.
Yes. They do not understand this.
Also, in Japan,
they do not have contact
with a defense counsel before trial.
They are very suspicious of me.
I see your problem, but they'll
have to adapt, Mr Matsugae.
Unless they want to plead guilty.
In which case,
we can pack up and go home.
If you'll excuse me,
I've got work to do.
I cannot run the defense
and the prosecution.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Still.
Now, Takahashi staff have you
checked Naval Command in Tokyo?
CORBETT: Done that.
They're working on it.
Camp legal officerwhere's he?
Shimada.
Americans won't release him yet.
Adjutants, signals officers?
Where are they?
Gone to ground.
Find them.
They're all over Japan, sir.
I don't care if they're shacked up at
Mount bloody Fuji. Find them, Jack.
I hear you've got 100 defendants.
Should be quite a spectacle.
We live in hope.
Jack Corbett,
Sheedy from the 'Herald'.
Oh, right.
G'day.
Everyone at home's right behind you,
screaming for blood.
Want to do this story properly?
Talk to Mr Matsugae.
Presumption of innocence?
Can't see that
selling a lot of newspapers.
There you go.
No.
CORBETT: Captain.
Private Mitchell, Captain Cooper.
I need your help.
(Mumbles incoherently)
You say you overheard Takahashi
discussing executions with Ikeuchi.
Was it a direct order?
Was Takahashi
actually ordering executions?
When was it?
Was it 1943?
1944?
Try and remember the month.
For God's sake, Bill!
Trials.
Bloody trials.
You don't wanna
try those bastards in a court.
You wanna try 'em against a wall.
What are you doing?
Excuse us, Sister. We just...
Just doing my job.
You're not allowed in here.
I'll be a minute.
These patients
are my responsibility.
I'm asking you to leave.
What am I supposed to do?
I'm prosecuting the bastards
that did this.
I've gotta make certain
he's on the plane tomorrow.
You know how many witnesses I've got?
Let him sleep. Let him go home.
(MAN CRIES OUT)
(Speaks Indonesian)
Fenton. Fenton.
These boys have been through enough.
Out! Both of you.
Have a good trip home, mate.
It's alright, Jimmy, I'm right here.
I'm right here.
Fenton? Didn't you say Fenton
was one of the flyers?
That's Jimmy Fenton, sir. He wasn't
a pilot. He was captured in '42.
Sir.
From Major Roberts, sir.
Takahashi.
About bloody time.
(ORCHESTRAL MUSIC)
Thanks.
Thanks a lot.
I hear you were in the hospital
yesterday, Bob.
It's not on. I've just had the chief
medical officer doing his block.
Stay out of the hospital, huh?
Morning.
Major Roberts?
Major Beckett.
Baron Takahashi.
SHEEDY: Who's the Yank?
I don't know.
How was the flight?
Damn long.
Captain Cooper, meet Major Beckett.
Chief Liaison Officer, Supreme
Command, War Crimes Trials.
Captain Cooper
is our chief prosecuting officer.
Oh.
Major.
You guys have taken on a big job.
Major Beckett is here
as an observer.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah.
Every little bit
helps the big show back in Tokyo.
Major.
See you boys later.
SHEEDY: Well, he looks
pretty guilty to me.
ROBERTS: In here, Major.
You too, Bob.
Get some tea and coffee
organised, George.
BECKETT: My God.
That's a hell of a trip 15 hours.
COOPER: It's a long way from Tokyo
even in a C-47, Major.
We fought a war together. We might
as well clean up the peace together.
Takahashi's conviction will bring us
one step closer to the emperor.
What? You mean you guys don't know?
Hirohito's been granted
immunity from prosecution.
What are you talking about?
What genius dreamt that up?
Well, it's very simple, Captain.
You use the conquered leaders
effectively
and everything
will fall into place.
We're not going
to sacrifice the Japanese leaders,
we're going to use them.
Look at Europe after the
first warGermany was humiliated.
That was a mistake. Bad mistake.
Seem to recall you blokes
were in charge of that one too.
Hate to think we couldn't learn
from our errors.
You're thinking more along the lines
of what the British did in India?
A handful of British puppets ran
the Hindus for hundreds of years -
the British Raj.
And Japan?
The American Raj?
You're not dealing
with a Western culture, Major.
Japanese history's barbaric -
look at what they did.
If you don't humiliate
the blokes at the top,
nothing's gonna change.
You've got to
understand the politics.
I'll bear that in mind, Major,
when I'm prosecuting some fanatic
who swore an oath to the emperor
to wipe us all off
the face of the earth.
Captain.
(DOOR SLAMS)
(Matsugae speaks Japanese)
(Speaks Japanese)
(SOLDIERS SHOUT IN JAPANESE)
(Man gives order in Japanese)
(CROWD YELLS ANGRILY)
(Woman yells in Indonesian)
(Man yells in Indonesian)
KEENAN: Get back!
(Woman screams)
MAN: You can't come in. Get back.
MAN: Go. Stay back, will you?
When you can,
duck out and contact Tokyo.
Might have something.
Don't bet on it.
If we don't get Takahashi's staff,
we won't have much fun.
(CROWD SHOUTS ANGRILY)
MAN: Quiet!
Settle down!
MAN: Quiet!
MAN: Quiet!
Settle down.
(Man taps pen on glass)
I hearby convene the Australian
War Crimes Tribunal, Ambon,
in accordance with the
Australian War Crimes Act, 1945.
The accused are charged
under Section 3
of the Australian War Crimes Act
with deliberate and concerted
ill treatment and murder
of prisoners of war.
How do you plead?
(Speaks Japanese)
Not guilty.
(Speaks Japanese)
Not guilty.
(Repeats 'not guilty' in Japanese)
(Repeats plea)
(Repeats plea)
(Repeats plea)
MAN: Settle down!
(CROWD YELLS)
(Repeats plea in Japanese)
ROBERTS: Order!
(Repeats plea)
ROBERTS: Order!
Put up all the shutters
and shut the doors.
MAN: OK, close them up.
(CROWD KEEPS YELLING
OUTSIDE)
Do you swear the evidence
you will give this court
will be the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
I solemnly swear.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi...
..you were responsible
for the Imperial Japanese Navy's
fleet headquarters
on the island of Ambon?
Yes.
But the 20th garrison unit
responsible for the prison camp
was entirely in the hands
of Captain Ikeuchi.
Vice-Admiral, how do you explain
the mass grave located at Laha?
I know nothing about these soldiers.
But you have seen the graves?
Yes.
300 Australians,
some beheaded,
the rest bayonetted to death.
You were in command in February 1942.
Captain Ikeuchi was your subordinate.
So who ordered
these men to be killed?
I know nothing about these men.
Vice-Admiral,
these men were on the island,
but they were
never in the prison camp.
Now, in all these sworn statements
there's not one single mention
of what happened to these men.
Now, the choice is very simple.
Either you ordered your men to
execute these 300 prisoners of war,
or you've failed
to order them not to.
You were the responsible officer.
You were in command.
I know nothing about these men.
I have a statement here
from a Private W. Mitchell.
I'm sure
you'll remember Private Mitchell.
He was assigned as a gardener
at your house.
Private Mitchell spoke Japanese.
He states that he heard you
discussing executions
with Captain Ikeuchi.
He is lying!
Objection, Your Honour.
Private Mitchell is not in court.
Private Mitchell cannot be
cross-examined if he is not here.
How well did he speak Japanese?
Captain Cooper?
I don't know.
Sustained.
Vice-Admiral, what did you do
with captured Australian airmen?
If airmen
were shot down and captured,
they would have been
placed in the prison camps.
Was it not Japanese policy
to execute captured airmen?
I am not aware of such a policy.
Unless, of course, they had
violated international law,
in which case they
would have been court-martialled.
What happened to the records
of your command, Vice-Admiral?
They were destroyed
during many bombing raids.
Bombing raids
of astonishing accuracy.
Did you put a sign on the roof
saying 'Please bomb here'?
MATSUGAE: Objection!
Captain Cooper, is this relevant?
Yes, it is, sir.
These courts martial of Australian
airmen for which we have no records -
exactly how many airmen
were court-martialled, Vice-Admiral?
I am not aware that any Australian
airmen were captured on Ambon.
(AEROPLANE ENGINE HUMS)
Excuse me, Sister.
You've got a patient called Fenton?
Jimmy Fenton, yeah.
Can I talk to him?
I'm afraid he's not really
with us at the moment, Captain.
When could I talk to him?
Jimmy Fenton's hardly spoken
in four months. What's the problem?
Four Australian airmen
went down near here.
I know it sounds silly, but one of
them was called Fenton, Eddy Fenton.
Hey, sir.
What have we got here?
Four more from Tokyo, sir.
MAN: Right, turn to the side.
MAN: OK, mate.
Next.
Alright, turn to the side.
COOPER: More guards.
What we need is Takahashi's staff,
his legal officer.
Shimada?
That's the bloke.
He can verify Takahashi's orders.
If we could
find the signals officer,
that might solve the puzzle
of the missing records.
It's not much of a puzzle, Jack.
MAN: Captain.
Got a minute?
Sure.
Take a look at this.
(Reads) "Bastards, leave Eddy alone.
Where's Eddy?"
Who said this?
Jimmy Fenton.
I asked around. He did
have a brother, Edward Air Force.
Eddy Fenton. Get the file
on the flyers. That's great. Thanks.
You're out of bounds, Sheedy.
What was their last radio position?
Trying to make contact
with the civilised world.
He's got better things to do.
Major Roberts said it would be OK.
North of Cape Hila.
3 degrees 32 south,
128 degrees 5 minutes east.
Radioed they were hit,
then silence.
That was it. Close to the island.
What date?
July '44.
Jimmy would've been here.
Eddy must've been on the island.
Wake 'em up.
Alright.
Photos, Jack, got 'em? Thanks.
Move it. Move it!
(Keenan speaks Japanese)
Do you recognise these men?
Don't play silly buggers, Tojo.
Answer the question.
No.
(Speaks Japanese)
Captain, I must protest.
Captain, what are you doing?
Mass trial, mass interrogation.
The defendants have a legal right to
counsel during questioning, Captain.
You wanted to see me.
Do you recognise these men?
MATSUGAE: You do not
have to answer, Vice-Admiral.
I cannot be of assistance.
ROBERTS: That's it.
You're closed down, Captain.
My office now. You too, Mr Matsugae.
They were on the island.
I'm going to find them.
Leave them to me.
There won't be a mark on them.
Put 'em to bed.
Move it.
OK, it's over. Put 'em to bed.
Move it!
Come on, you heard the man.
If you've got the evidence,
where is it?
If not, stop making
a bloody fool of yourself.
I'm not here.
Where are the bodies?
I don't know.
If they were captured on Ambon,
they were killed here.
How do you know that?
They're not alive,
they weren't sent home,
and they're not listed
as having died in the camp.
Why are you chasing four phantoms
when you have hard evidence
of mass graves -
over 300 bodies?
There are no witnesses
and no records.
But four flyers
went down in July 1944
and one of them's
got a brother in that hospital.
You're making a mistake
a lawyer can't afford to make.
You're losing your objectivity.
Don't patronise me, Major,
for Christ's sake.
Takahashi and Ikeuchi
are the only senior officers
that were here in 1942.
And Takahashi
will say he was somewhere else
when 315 men were butchered
and get off.
You can't waltz into court
with perhaps's and maybes.
Do I make myself clear, Captain?
Crystal clear, sir.
An apology to Mr Matsugae
is in order.
I apologise, Mr Matsugae.
Thank you, Captain.
That's all, Captain.
Maybe those flyers
weren't captured at all.
Maybe they died
when their plane was shot down.
Have you considered that, Captain?
No, I haven't, Major.
And I thought you weren't here.
How is he going?
Eddy!
Eddy, it's me.
MATSUGAE: Vice-Admiral,
what were your first actions
when you took over
command of Ambon?
I called a meeting
of all my officers.
I told them that Japan is not a
signatory to the Geneva Convention
for the treatment of prisoners,
but I insist
you behave as if we are.
So your orders were... your men
were to adhere to international law?
Yes.
Objection.
This island was governed by
Imperial Japanese Navy regulations.
I withdraw the question.
Vice-Admiral,
you spent some time in England.
Oh, yes. I obtained my degree in law
at Oxford University.
And you joined the service
upon returning to Japan?
Yes. The navy.
You are the only Japanese member
of the European golf club?
Objection. This is irrelevant.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi wasn't here
to improve his golf handicap.
(LAUGHTER)
MAN: Silence!
This evidence is essential
to gain an understanding
of Vice-Admiral Takahashi's attitude
towards Australian prisoners.
Objection overruled.
Continue, please.
Vice-Admiral...
..I want you
to consider this very carefully.
How do you explain the bodies
of the prisoners in the mass graves?
(Clears throat)
I was not present when the
Australians surrendered on Ambon.
I was away
attending a meeting in Manila.
It is in the records.
Captain Ikeuchi was here,
but he never told me
that such mass graves existed.
You would have to
ask him the details
of what happened to those men.
I do know that during my command
we buried the prisoners
who had died of tropical diseases,
or who had been killed
during Allied bombing raids,
along with my own men.
I'm very distressed
by what I now know.
It appears to bring
no credit to my command.
But I cannot be held responsible
for actions which took place
during my absence.
COOPER: Can't you see
what Takahashi's up to?
"It wasn't me.
Captain Ikeuchi ran the camp.
"If there were beatings and
executions, Ikeuchi was responsible.
"I saw nothing. I heard nothing."
No executions.
Look, mate, when I find
more evidence of executions,
and let me tell you I intend to,
then you're going to cop the lot.
Takahashi's going to bury you.
And your only defense
is that there weren't any.
We found 315 bodies!
No executions.
What's the matter with you?
Look, it isn't going to work.
They were executed,
and he wasn't here.
He was here when those airmen
were here, though, wasn't he?
You do not understand Japanese ways.
Your trouble is
you don't understand anything else.
Japanese officer very strong.
Japanese Vice-Admiral very powerful,
blame Japanese officer
for executions.
No executions.
I've met some dumb pricks,
but he takes the cake.
He's a bit feudal for you.
Why would an American
in charge of war trials
bring Takahashi here
so we can prosecute him?
Make sure he wasn't convicted?
I told you,
Roberts has to authorise this.
They're the rules.
Turn away for five minutes.
It's not the rules
I'm worried about. Look at him.
I just want to
show him some photographs.
Two minutes, no more.
Jimmy...
..I want you
to look at something for me.
You know who that is?
Come on, who is it?
Jimmy.
Captain, were you present
at the execution of the 300 prisoners
at Laha airstrip?
I know nothing of any executions.
I submit details
of autopsies carried out
on the remains of the men
dug from the mass graves.
The report shows that these men
were beheaded or bayonetted to death.
Now, Captain,
did you or Vice-Admiral Takahashi
order the execution
of these prisoners?
I know nothing of any executions.
How do you account for
the 300 bodies? Mass suicide, was it?
ROBERTS: Captain Cooper.
Do you recognise these men?
ROBERTS: Captain Cooper,
is there evidence
to suggest these men might...
Yes.
You do recognise these men?
I was taken out last night...
That's not what I meant.
These men were here.
MATSUGAE: Objection.
They were in this camp.
Objection!
What did you do with them?
Captain Cooper.
How is it that not a single
Australian airman survived on Ambon?
We know planes came down near here.
Objection!
Not just these four, any airmen.
Captain Cooper!
Have you any further questions,
Captain?
No, sir.
Mr Matsugae?
No questions, sir.
I request an adjournment while a
search is made through Tokyo records.
A search for what?
Records of courts martial
held in this region
between 1942 and the surrender.
Courts martial of whom,
Captain?
Captured pilots, sir.
Objection.
Overruled.
I also have warrants for key members
of Vice-Admiral Takahashi's staff.
I need time
for their delivery into custody.
This tribunal
is adjourned for 24 hours
while the prosecution's requests
are considered.
"Today Mum and I went
to Palm Beach for a trip.
"We got on top of
a double-decker bus from Wynyard,
"and, as it was a clear day,
got a lovely view,
"especially of the harbor
as we crossed the bridge.
"They say Sydney people
rave about the bridge and harbor,
"but you can't help it.
"Truly, Jimmy,
it's as wonderful as ever.
"Don't stop thinking
of the fun we used to have..."
(Voice fades)
MAN: G'day!
(CAR HORN BEEPS)
(GAVEL POUNDS)
MAN: Thank you, gentlemen.
Captain Cooper, Supreme Allied
Command headquarters in Tokyo
is unable to guarantee production
of the records you require
within a reasonable time.
It also appears that the prosecution
has not located any of Vice-Admiral
Takahashi's staff at this time.
On both these grounds
we're unable to grant
your request for an adjournment.
ROBERTS: Does the prosecution
wish to call any further witnesses
in the case
against Vice-Admiral Takahashi?
What witnesses, Major Roberts?
Mr Matsugae?
The defense also rests.
Counsel, proceed with summing up.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi
is a man of special qualities,
educated in one of
the finest universities in England.
MAN: Next.
PRIVATE TALBOT: Pockets.
Take him.
Come on.
Just up against the wall.
Just hold it still.
Alright, to the side.
COOPER: The evidence of brutality
submitted in the sworn statements
of the Australian prisoners
is now given added weight
by the discovery of the mass graves
at Laha airstrip.
And the fact
that not a single Australian airman
listed as missing
in this region survived.
The question
is one of responsibility.
The defense that these acts
were committed by Captain Ikeuchi
fails to address Vice-Admiral
Takahashi's responsibility
for the actions of his subordinates.
It is not necessary to establish
that he personally ordered
the deaths of these prisoners...
..because it is plainly clear
that he and only he
had the power to prevent them.
This man, who had every advantage...
..was highly educated...
..in the top echelon
of Japanese society...
..this man of 'honour'...
..commanded the prisoner of war camp
with the highest death rate
in the entire war!
The prosecution submits
that Vice-Admiral Takahashi
receive the harshest
possible penalty.
This afternoon, Vice-Admiral Baron
Takahashi same spelling comma,
who was accused
of mass murder and mistreatment
of Australian prisoners of war
under his command
on the island of Ambon,
um... 700 miles
north of Australia, comma...
..was acquitted of all charges,
full stop.
He is bloody guilty.
ROBERTS: I think
it was the right decision.
Obviously you do.
Here.
MAN: Sir.
Why didn't we
get any records out of Tokyo?
Was that the deal? We could
have Takahashi but no records?
I realise you're disappointed,
but the Takahashi case is closed.
No, it bloody isn't.
Well, you've still got the
real bastard, Ikeuchi, to prosecute.
The same thing will happen.
We've got 300 bodies
and no witnesses.
Why couldn't you have waited
until we located the four flyers?
Because you haven't got them.
Because they're phantoms.
You're concerned about justice,
this is justice.
Prosecute Ikeuchi. He's mentioned
on every sworn statement.
Now, he really is a monster.
The people at home will be happy,
the army will be happy,
everybody will be happy, and you'll
be doing the job you came to do.
That's not justice, that's politics.
Very few men have the opportunity to
contribute to something like this.
Sir.
The world is watching, Bob.
Don't throw it all away
by bending a few rules.
They're all we have.
You buy that, don't you?
You really buy that.
(KNOCK AT DOOR)
Captain, we've got him.
The signals officer.
He's waiting for us now
in interrogation.
Maybe he knows something
about the flyers.
CORBETT: Lieutenant Tanaka,
you were the signals officer
under Baron Takahashi.
MATSUGAE: Answer the question,
Lieutenant.
Yes, I was one of three.
Did you ever send or receive
any signals
relating to the court martial
of prisoners of war on the island?
I must have. Yes, I think so.
Was it Japanese policy to send
signals of every court martial?
I don't know. I sent those signals
I was ordered to send.
Did you ever intercept transmissions
from Allied planes?
Yes. We were
under continuous attack.
Do you recall
one particular flight...?
July 24, 1944.
We think the plane
may have gone down near here.
No.
Think back.
July 1944. The island
was not under heavy air attack.
One particular flight,
reconnaissance.
It would surely be difficult
to recall one particular flight,
Captain.
Answer the question, Lieutenant.
Much has happened since I left here.
I was on leave in Nagasaki
when the war ended.
The lieutenant lost his parents
and three sisters
in the atomic bomb blast.
I see.
This is a waste of time.
Do you intend laying charges
against Lieutenant Tanaka, Captain?
Not at this time.
In view of the fact
that Lieutenant Tanaka
surrendered by his own free will,
unlike the other defendants,
I formally request
he be allowed to return home.
Yeah, that's fine.
No, wait. Keep him.
Lieutenant Tanaka may be used
in the case against Captain Ikeuchi.
That will be all, Mr Matsugae.
MAN: Attention.
(Jimmy moans and sobs)
Jimmy, what is it?
Is it Eddy?
It's Eddy, isn't it?
(CROWD CHEERS)
(Mouths words)
(THUNDERCLAP)
Ah!
Jimmy, what are you doing?
Eddy...
I remember.
No, no. It's this way.
COOPER: There's no rush, Jimmy.
You'll be alright.
This way.
He doesn't know where he is.
Keep going.
Come on, get the lead
out of your pants, Tojo.
This is it.
(Screams) Eddy!
Here.
Are you sure, Jimmy?
Dig.
Geneva Convention
say officers not do manual work.
Cooper's convention say Ikeuchi dig
or shovel comes into contact
with head.
Now dig.
Come on! Heads down, thumbs up.
MAN: Captain Cooper.
Phantoms, Frank. One to four.
COOPER: Sit down here
on the, ah... chair.
Raise your right hand.
Do you swear the evidence
you're about to give this tribunal
will be the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
I swear.
(Jimmy coughs)
Private, how long were you
a prisoner of war?
How long?
Sister, are you sure Private Fenton
is capable of testifying?
Over three years.
Were you ever beaten
during that time?
ROBERTS: Answer the question,
Private.
I was beaten.
Who carried out the beatings?
(Coughs) Ikeuchi.
Th-the one... the one
we called the 'black bastard'.
They br... they broke
eight of my ribs.
Th-they split my skull.
Almost bloody crippled me.
(Mutters)
Who gave the orders
for these beatings?
That bastard.
Ikeuchi.
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
(MAN SHOUTS IN JAPANESE)
JIMMY: In one bashing...
there was 30 of us.
(Men shout in Japanese)
And Ikeuchi...
That bloody whistle -
he blew it to stop the beatings.
And he blew it to start
the beatings all over again.
(Men cough and groan)
We lost three good blokes that day.
The rest of us...
No-one had the right
to do that to us.
We were soldiers.
Bit... bit later on...
..when the guards weren't looking,
I was pulled away
by some of my mates.
I crawled as fast as I could
to a hut and got underneath it.
S-sort of sat there for a while.
Hours went by.
I don't know how many.
The beatings went on...
Private...
Private, what else did you see?
What else?
The truck.
Yes. A truck was coming.
(MEN SPEAK IN JAPANESE)
Eddy!
It's me! It's Jimmy!
Can you hear me? Eddy! EDDY!
Sister Littell,
you assured this tribunal
this man was fit to testify.
That is my professional opinion,
sir.
It's my advice
to this tribunal he is not.
(Screams) I AM!
I'm... I'm fit to testify.
Were these the men with your brother?
Face was a mess...
But, yeah, looks like them.
Where were your brother
and the three men held?
I-Isolation block.
Away from the rest of us.
(MEN GROAN AND SHOUT)
Most of the guards were
out of the camp on work parties.
So I got under the wire.
I could see Ikeuchi.
IKEUCHI: Bombing!
Bombing!
Your mission was bombing!
MAN: No! Reconnaissance.
Bombing!
(Groans) Reconnaissance.
You tell!
(Chokes)
You tell me all.
Reconnaissance. Rec...
Ah!
Bombing.
(Screams)
Bombing!
(Screams)
Bombing!
(Screams)
I submit records of flight details
showing that
Flight Lieutenant Edward Fenton
was on a reconnaissance mission.
This plane was not armed with bombs.
Flight Lieutenant Smith,
Flight Sergeant O'Donnell
and Corporal Rogers
were also onboard.
Eddy... Eddy!
Eddy, the bastard's gone!
EDDY! EDDY!
(Whispers) Eddy...
Eddy, it's me. It's Jimmy.
Eddy, it's Jimmy!
Jimmy...
I-I slip out at night...
..give him a smoke,
try and keep his spirits up.
When was the last time you saw Eddy?
It was...
..I think... I think morning.
Yeah, I remember. It was morning.
Jap guards, truck.
(Guard speaks Japanese)
(Speaks Japanese)
(TRUCK DRIVES AWAY)
I took off under the wire.
I followed the truck till it
turned off near the old ruin.
I was running.
I got as close as I could.
I could see Eddy,
and the other three
and a couple of guards,
and Ikeuchi, Japs in the car.
Mu-muffled voices.
T-too far away.
I was almost nabbed by a Jap patrol.
I heard Eddy scream
as I hid in the bushes.
Murdered him.
Killed my brother. Mongrel bastards!
(Speaks Japanese)
YOU FUCKING MURDERING
SAVAGES!
(Screams in Japanese)
ANIMALS! ANIMALS!
EDDY!
(Sobs)
ANIMALS!
(HEAVY, SOMBRE MUSIC)
Want a beer?
Yeah, thanks.
Jimmy Fenton just died.
(HORN TOOTS)
(FAST-PACED TRIBAL DRUMMING)
(Speaks in Japanese)
(Screams)
Who executed the flyers?
I know nothing about... (Groans)
We'll see what you know.
Now, who gave the order?
Who executed the flyers? Who did it?
Names. NAMES! NAMES!
The Christian.
What Christian?
Tanakata.
You'll have to do better than that.
Tanakata. Tanakata.
Tanaka, the signals officer?
Yes.
Jesus Christ.
Next time leave it to the experts.
You better get that seen to.
Sir.
(Sighs deeply)
Hey!
Did you get something out of that?
The name of one of the executioners.
Happy with the way you got it?
You're not much better than them.
Captain Wodami Ikeuchi...
..and Lieutenant Hideo Tanaka...
..you are charged
under Section 3
of the Australian War Crimes Act
with carrying out
the unlawful execution
of RAAF officers and crew-
Rogers, Fenton, O'Donnell and Smith.
How do you plead?
Not guilty.
COOPER: I submit the record
of evidence
given by the late
Private James Fenton,
together with photographs
of the decapitated bodies
of the four officers,
along with their identification tags.
Captain, who gave the order
for the execution of these officers?
I know nothing of any execution.
Private James Fenton
swore under oath
he saw you interrogate
Flight Lieutenant Edward Fenton.
He was lying.
He further stated he followed
a truck carrying the officers
and a car
in which you were a passenger
to a place in the jungle,
to a spot where, only a few days ago,
you dug up the decapitated bodies
of these officers.
Bushido tradition demands
that enemy officers of this rank
be executed by Japanese officers
of equal rank.
Who were they?
Lieutenant Tanaka,
do you recognise these men?
Yes.
When did you first see them?
The morning they were brought
to the court martial building
by Captain Ikeuchi.
Captain Ikeuchi.
Who was in charge
of courts martial on Ambon?
Baron Takahashi... presided over them
with two other officers -
Captain Ikeuchi and
Lieutenant Shimadalegal officer.
Baron Takahashi.
Were you a witness
at this court martial?
No.
What made you believe
it actually took place?
I was told I had been honoured
by Baron Takahashi,
president of the court martial,
to carry out the execution
the Australian prisoners.
'Honoured'.
Why would they honour
a signals officer?
Tradition requires
an officer to be executed
by an officer of equal rank.
What crime did these officers commit
to warrant an execution?
They had bombed innocent civilians.
How could they have bombed civilians?
The records show they
were on a reconnaissance flight.
According to Japanese court martial
they bombed civilians.
According to a court martial
that possibly never took place.
MATSUGAE: Objection!
You are a liar, Lieutenant!
No! Baron Takahashi was in charge.
Nothing could be done
without his express orders.
Nothing!
I protested against his orders for
the mass beating of the prisoners.
I made repeated requests
to Takahashi.
Do something!
Prisoners were dying all around us.
He did nothing.
There was a warehouse full of food.
Takahashi let them die
of starvation.
They were human beings!
There was a court martial.
Look at the records -
they will prove it!
(Ikeuchi laughs)
The records?! There are no records.
Takahashi burned them.
Just like he's burning you,
you poor fool!
Sergeant, remove the prisoner.
(Speaks Japanese)
Banzai!
MEN: BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!
MAN: Get off him.
Sit down!
(Ikeuchi keeps shouting)
BANZAI!
(Shouts in Japanese)
(Laughs)
Sit down!
SIT DOWN!
Captain, I apologise
for this intrusion.
That's alright.
I feel great shame
for what happened in court today.
I defended Vice-Admiral Takahashi
to the letter of the law.
Now I find myself
in a most difficult position.
Did you really believe
that Baron Takahashi was innocent?
You must appreciate
my task was to defend him.
It's Tanaka who is my concern now.
It would be a great injustice
if the innocent
were to be branded
with the shame of the guilty.
Well, I'm not so sure
Tanaka is innocent.
But... he was just following orders.
So was the man he executed,
Mr Matsugae.
Captain...
Better come quick, sir.
Bastard.
I had a special bullet for him.
Find something to cover him with.
Get them out of here.
Come on. Clear out!
Come on.
How can they do that to themselves?
I don't understand these bloody Japs.
What's Beckett coming back for?
Why can't he just put Shimada
on a plane?
You requested Shimada. You're
the reason he's being brought here.
I don't know why Beckett's coming.
He knows we've found
the bodies of those flyers.
What's he gonna say?
There was a court martial?
Takahashi made a mistake?
I don't know.
Whose side are you on?
What's going on in your guts?
We are only here because
those prisoners were Australians.
I intend to make
Lieutenant Shimada available
for Mr Matsugae to question.
Right?
Lieutenant Shimada will verify there
was a legal court martial held.
Cooper doesn't appreciate the
prospect of you turning up as well.
I don't give a damn what
your Captain Cooper appreciates.
Where did you find this guy, anyway?
Who's in charge here?
(Toots horn)
He's due back in Tokyo
the day after tomorrow, Frank.
You've got us for 24 hours,
that's it.
Lieutenant, you came to Ambon
specifically to testify
that these men were court-martialled.
There's not the slightest suggestion
of evidence
to support that, is there?
TANAKA: That's not true.
I acted upon the order
of the court martial!
Resume your seat, Lieutenant.
So Vice-Admiral Takahashi
convened the court martial
and you and Captain Ikeuchi
were both there?
Yes.
And Tokyo was notified
of this court martial
by radio transmissions, of course.
Uh... yes.
Although all records
of these radio transmissions
were bombed here on Ambon.
So I understand.
And all the records in Tokyo
of these radio transmissions
appear to have been lost!
Yes.
Yes.
I'd like to call Major Beckett
to the stand.
PRESIDENT OF THE BENCH:
What purpose, Captain?
To draw upon his expertise
in the area of records, sir.
Very good. Swear Major Beckett in.
If nothing else emerges
from this tribunal,
it will at least be clear
that Allied attempts to bomb
Japanese records
were always highly successful.
Do you swear the evidence
you are about to give
will be the whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
I swear.
Captain Cooper.
Major, is it true that during the war
you were a security officer
with US Secret Intelligence?
Yes, it is.
Although I don't see what that has
to do with these proceedings.
Is it also true
that since the surrender
Japanese codes have come into
the hands of the Allies,
and that any signal received
during the war could now be decoded?
The decoding of Japanese signals
will take a considerable
amount of time.
Also, it's highly unlikely
that every signal
between Ambon and Tokyo
would have been intercepted
by Washington.
Yes, but wouldn't any Japanese signal
sent from Ambon
have been intercepted
by your Australian allies?
Wouldn't they
have been intercepted by Darwin?
There's no guarantee, Captain,
as you should know,
that every Japanese signal
was intercepted by anyone.
But if they were,
it is now possible for them
to be decoded
and presented as evidence
in this court, isn't it?
That's classified information,
Captain.
I wouldn't
be able to comment about that.
How would we go about
getting such information?
It would be very difficult, sir.
Perhaps I could be...
These records
were subpoenaed last night.
I've received a message saying
the information's available.
I object! Sir, this information is
classified for reasons of Allied...
It's not your place to object,
Major Beckett. Please sit down.
I object, Your Honour...
I request an adjournment, sir,
to enable the status
of any documents so obtained
to be properly considered.
I adjourn this tribunal for one hour
while this business is sorted out.
Major Roberts,
I wonder if I could see you.
Bad news, I'm afraid, gentlemen.
The information is classified.
They won't release it.
Major.
Bugger.
I'm sorry, Bob.
I wish that had come off for you.
Yeah. Thanks, Frank.
Sir.
Yes?
Come in.
Matsugae.
Tell the gentlemen
what you told me now.
American records will show no signal
about the court martial
because no signal was sent.
Why not?
I don't know.
But I remember no signal was sent.
Too much bombing.
What you are saying is that
a court martial was held
but no signal was sent to Tokyo.
Yes.
I would like to call Lieutenant
Kamura as a witness, Major,
in the defense of Lieutenant Tanaka.
You say there was a court martial
but that no signal was sent.
How do you know a signal wasn't sent
about this particular court martial?
We were under attack. Very difficult
to send signals at that time.
Yes. But how do you know so much
about this court martial?
Were you there?
Yes.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi ordered me
to inform Lieutenant Tanaka
he was to execute one of the flyers.
MATSUGAE: No further questions.
PRESIDENT OF THE BENCH:
Captain Cooper.
Lieutenant... Kamura...
..what was the date of the
court martial of the four flyers?
September 10, 1944.
And no signal was sent because
the island was under heavy air attack?
Yes.
Very heavy air attack.
Was this heavy air attack on the day
of the court martial
or the day after the court martial
or the day after that?
I'm not sure.
Lieutenant,
there was no heavy air attack
in the entire month
of September 1944!
That's not the reason
no signal was sent, is it?
Objection, Your Honour.
Sustained.
Lieutenant, will you tell us exactly
how you informed Lieutenant Tanaka
that he was to execute
Flight Lieutenant Edward Fenton?
I told him
there had been a court martial.
Vice-Admiral Takahashi had given him
the honour of executing
Flight Lieutenant Fenton.
So you told him
there was a court martial
just like you told me,
a few seconds ago,
that no signal had been sent.
There was no court martial,
was there?
That's why no signal was sent,
isn't it?
Objection. He's leading the witness.
There never was...
There never was a court martial.
Captain Cooper.
Was there?
Your Honour!
Captain Cooper.
Why didn't you tell him
there was no court martial?
Stop this line of questioning.
Sit down.
Not until the witness
answers the question.
Sit down!
Why didn't you tell him
there was no court martial?
I was scared.
You were what?
I was scared I would be punished,
I would be court-martialled...
..if I didn't obey an order.
I see.
You were scared.
I know Lieutenant Tanaka.
He might not have
carried out this order
if he had known there was no trial.
Did Lieutenant Tanaka ask to see
a written order for this court martial?
No.
No.
What really happened that day?
I was... at Takahashi's house
at 9:00 in the morning
when he gave the order
to Captain Ikeuchi.
The prisoners were taken
to the place of execution,
and it was finished at 10:30.
I had to report to Takahashi
when the execution was done.
Lieutenant Kamura, were you stationed
on Ambon in February 1942?
Yes.
Did Vice-Admiral Takahashi
give the order for the execution
of the 315 Australian prisoners
near Laha airstrip?
He was responsible. Yes.
Do you believe Captain Ikeuchi
acted on his own?
He decided to execute the pilots
and he chose you to carry it out?
No.
Do you realise where this places you
in the absence of
any court martial proceedings?
I can only say I was carrying out
what I believed to be a lawful order
from my superiors.
The lives of four men.
Surely it warranted something
in writing.
We were at war.
We had to obey orders.
But you are a signals officer.
Didn't you notice that no signals
were sent about this court martial?
You said before you'd questioned
Takahashi's orders.
What could I have done?
There are many questions
that can never be resolved.
Not in this court.
Is there anything you need?
Doing a bit of fraternising,
are we, Private?
Sergeant.
Haven't you got better things to do
than chinwag with these monkeys?
I don't wish to cause trouble.
Keep out of it.
You Jap lovers...
..turn my stomach.
Forgive and forget?
Captain Cooper.
It's a beautiful night.
Not bad at all.
Always that breeze that comes off
the sea in the evenings here.
Yeah.
Listen.
I think there's something
you ought to realise.
Baron Takahashi has been given
a very sensitive appointment
in the pacification program
in Tokyo.
It'd be a damn shame
if there was any more trouble
about what happened here.
What? Like killing
a few hundred Australians?
(Sighs)
There is a bigger game, Cooper.
A grander scale.
You think I don't understand
how you feel?
You think none of this shit
ever happened to our boys?
I'm not saying
the sonofabitch is innocent.
I'm asking you to see
that there are more important things
than what happened on Ambon.
The future of the whole world
is being worked out right now.
I haven't got much use for barons
at the best of times, Major.
But let me tell you,
the future of the world
isn't worked out on a grand scale.
It's worked out by ordinary people
doing their ordinary bloody jobs.
You really don't understand, do you?
We have to use people like Takahashi
to serve our interests.
Takahashi is not serving
our interests.
You're serving his.
And you're not working out
the future of the world, Major.
You're just preventing it
from being different to the past.
PRESIDENT OF THE BENCH:
Thank you, Mr Matsugae.
Captain Cooper.
International law doesn't recognise
obedience to a superior officer
as a defense.
The defendant personally conducted
the brutal execution
of Flight Lieutenant Edward Fenton.
That he did it is not contested.
The question
for this tribunal is this -
did he know
he was committing a crime
or was he ignorant of the fact?
The defendant was lied to
by his superior officers.
The most senior of those officers
has since been acquitted
by this tribunal of any wrongdoing.
Evidence has since become available
that Vice-Admiral Takahashi...
..lied to this tribunal...
..ordered the summary execution
of pilots
and destroyed all records.
This evidence
must be put to better use
than to simply convict
his junior officers.
Officers of insufficient rank,
presumably,
to play any part
in post-war regional politics.
(OMINOUS MUSIC)
Lieutenant Tanaka
previously questioned
the orders from his superiors.
This time, he did not.
His instruction to execute
a defenceless prisoner...
..was represented to him
as a great honour
in the Japanese tradition.
(Breathes nervously)
(Gasps)
It has become
increasingly obvious, sir,
that the overriding fact
in these proceedings
is not the difference between
the Japanese culture and our own
or two sides in an international war.
It is the way in which
power and privilege...
..make victims of those
who have neither.
What choice
did Lieutenant Tanaka have?
What could he have done?
(Speaks in Japanese)
(Gasps)
We all recognise
that the world must go on.
But if a swift political solution
to the Pacific and the Far East
can only be won
at the expense of justice...
..then our grief and our anger
at the barbaric treatment
of our prisoners of war
will not be washed away
in this century.
If this officer is found guilty,
I recommend that mercy
be shown to him.
(MELANCHOLY MUSIC)
Just came to say goodbye.
Off home?
Tomorrow.
Well, thanks for your help.
Sorry about what happened with Jimmy.
What do you think
will happen tomorrow?
I don't know.
Good luck.
Maybe we'll see each other again
in Sydney one day.
(Chuckles softly) Maybe.
You take care of yourself.
You too.
The tribunal
has given lengthy consideration
to the case of Lieutenant Tanaka.
Particularly in respect
of possible mitigating factors
surrounding the question of
whether or not he knew in his mind
he was committing
this unjustifiable crime.
There can be no doubt
that the defendant conducted
the execution
of Flight Lieutenant Fenton.
It should've been the responsibility
of the defendant to confirm
that a legal court martial
had been convened
and that a legal order had been
given pursuant to its decision.
Clearly, he did not so inquire.
Accordingly,
this tribunal has no alternative
but to find the accused
guilty as charged.
This is a capital offence.
The sentence is death.
(Sheedy dictates) Lieutenant Tanaka,
an English-speaking
Christian Japanese...
..ironically, an English-speaking
Christian Japanese, comma,
who gave himself up, comma,
was today sentenced to death...
..comma, sentence
to be carried out immediately.
Full stop.
Take out 'ironically'.
(ROOSTER CROWS)
(PENSIVE MUSIC)
(SOLEMN CHORAL SINGING)
Could you please see that my wife,
Midori, receives this letter?
Sure.
(TRUCK ENGINE STARTS)
(BRISK MILITARY DRUMMING)
(SLOW, MELANCHOLY MUSIC)
KEENAN: Firing party, right turn!
Firing party, order arms!
(Mouths words)
I do not want a blindfold.
I am not frightened of death.
I'm sorry. It's regulations.
Firing party, port arms!
(Mouths words)
Load!
(RIFLES COCK)
Present!
Fire!
Firing party, port arms!
(SAD, HAUNTING MUSIC)
(MOURNFUL MUSIC BUILDS)
(MOURNFUL MUSIC CONTINUES)