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Updated:
23 May 2006
Mark Dacascos in "Only the Brave"
- the story of the heroic 100th/442nd batallion in WWII.
Directed and written by Lane Nishikawa - director of cinematography Michael G. Wojciechowski.
Mark Dacascos plays Sgt. Steve "Zaki" Senzaki, a Nisei (second-generation Japanese American) from Hawaii, fighting in World War II.
THE STORY
"Only the Brave" opens with the 100th/442nd combat team advancing on a French town bordering the Vosges Forest, well fortified with a German company and numerous snipers, left behind to slow the progress of the American troops. Within hours the town is secured with few casualties. Before the regiment can regroup, word reaches it about the battalion from the 141st.Their orders are to break through and secure the "Lost Battalion."
For four days the Japanese-American regiment faces entrenched Nazi forces.
Finally, the 100th/442nd combat team charges through German lines and reaches its objective, but at a tremendous cost - they saved more than 200 soldiers of the "Lost Battalion" but suffered 800 casualties.
Used with the permission of
Garret T. SatoTHE CHARACTERS
Using flashbacks, Nishikawa tells the story of the diverse backgrounds of the Japanese Americans who volunteered to fight while some of their parents and siblings were held in internment camps, and giving a good sense of these men as not only soldiers, but as fathers, husbands, boyfriends and brothers.Director Lane Nishikawa is tough Nisei Sgt. James Takata, the leader of the platoon that rescues the stranded Texas soldiers. He is haunted by the death of his father (played by Pat Noriyuki Morita), and his mind flashes back to comforting memories of his loving wife, Mary (Tamlyn Tomita), as he tries to deal with the death and violence that surround him. Mary is a soldier's wife who exemplifies the stereotypical Nisei woman who is left behind at home and is stoic in the face of the likely loss of her husband.
Jason Scott Lee plays Sgt. Glenn "Tak" Takase, also a sergeant from Hawaii. Gina Hiraizumi plays Eleanor "Ellie" Takase, his beauty queen wife.
Mark Dacascos plays Sgt. Steve "Zaki" Sanzaki.
Yuji Okumoto plays Yukio "Yuk" Nakajo, who volunteered to serve from an internment camp in Arkansas and left his family back there.
Greg Watanabe plays Freddy Watada, a young soldier with sweetheart Nancy Loo, played by Emily Liu, waiting at home.
Ken Narasaki plays Dr.Richard "Doc" Naganuma who is trying to help in an increasingly helpless environment.
Garret Sato plays Richard "Hilo" Imamura, a happy go lucky kind of a guy who loves to joke around.
But in the end, Only the Brave is Takata’s story: an exploration of how the overwhelming specter of death affects a man who just wants to do the right thing.
FILMING
Nishikawa's film was shot during three weeks in May 2004 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Nearby locations such as a Los Angeles park doubled for northern France and the Vosges. He worked with a crew of 85 and at one point had 125 extras. The first draft of the screenplay was written two years ago.BUDGET
The film was shot with a budget of only $750,000, taking 18 days to film, and it included 14 days in Los Angeles at Universal Pictures' back lot and the nearby Angeles National Forest, plus four days in Hawaii.Most of the actors took less than their normal fee to be in the movie.
LINKS:
Official Only the Brave website - with traileer and cast info and synopsis.442nd Regimental Combat Team History with many links
The Go For Broke Educational Foundation - Preserving the Legacy of the Japanese American Veterans of WWII
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