Know Your Enemy: Japan (1945)

Directed by

Joris Ivens, Frank Capra

Genre

propaganda film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 03m

Rating

5.9 of 10 from 18 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A World War II propaganda film from 1945 explains Japanese society and government to American soldiers. It was made for the U.S. War Department but was delayed by disputes and the war ending.

educationalpatriotichistoricalstarkdatedseriousinstructionalpropagandistic

What happens

Know Your Enemy: Japan is an American World War II propaganda film about the war in the Pacific directed by Frank Capra, with additional direction by experimental documentary filmmaker Joris Ivens. The film, which was commissioned by the U.S. War Department, sought to educate American soldiers about Japan, its people, society and history, and its totalitarian militaristic government. However, the film never realized its full purpose because its completion was delayed by disputes between Hollywood and Washington, and the abrupt end of the Pacific War soon after the film's release in August 1945. The film's first public screening was in 1977 as part of a PBS special. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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