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CHANNEL24 SPECIAL FEATURE
On 16 October, Channel24 flew to Hawaii to speak to the director and cast of the much-anticipated war film, Midway. Here Bashiera Parker sits down with acclaimed director, Roland Emmerich, who describes the film as a "vivid monument" – a way to ensure the heroes of this story will never be forgotten.
Cape Town – Roland Emmerich has directed his fair share of box office hits with The Day After Tomorrow, Stargate, The Patriot and Independence Day. He tends to pull towards stories of hope and triumph, so his telling of Midway was bound to be a "vivid monument", as he described it to me, when we sat down to chat about the film in Hawaii.
"It's mainly that, these people who did this battle, are not forgotten," he said talking about the fighter pilots, the intelligence officers, the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Midway, even though they were completely outnumbered and outgunned. "Movies can very much remind people, 'This happened, these people did that'."
Though he told the story from the perspective of the American soldiers, he also told the Japanese side of the story. But for the most part, the film highlighted that the battle marked a turning point during World War II and due to the the instincts, fortitude and bravery of the American soldiers, they eventually secured an American victory.
"When you look at what's happening in the world with the rise of nationalism everywhere and how divided America is, its good to show that a group of people who stick together and even the underdogs can beat fascism," he said, explaining his motivation to tell this particular story.
But he added, "It was also important for me not to have a big triumphant ending where everybody's cheering
"War is something where there is no winners," he said. "There's only losers."
Scroll up to see the full interview above.
Midway will be in SA cinemas on 27 December.
