Customer Reviews

Unfinished Business - The Japanese-American Internment Cases

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One of the very few documentaries on this subject of the condition of Japanese-Americans who had been living in America for generations furing WW2. Before I saw this, I was totally unaware of the existence of concentration camps (which were called "relocation camps") with poor living conditions, into which thousands of Japanese Americans were herded. The trauma of war on a country's psyche is quite well documented here and is no different from similar emotions faced by other countries during times of conflict.
Also interesting was the hope and faith of some Japanese Americans in the American justice system to seek redressal of their humiliation - and also, how the justice system, though slow, didn't fail them.

Shortly after America entered WWII, FDR signed Executive Order 9066 giving the government the ability to declare areas of the country military zones and arresting any persons in those areas who were deemed a "threat." Although it did not specify any certain people, the Order was used primarily to round up and incarcerate persons of Japanese descent living in the western U.S. The detainees found themselves living in what amounted to concentration camps, often in isolated desert areas. During the war, three Japanese-American men (Gordon Hirabayashi, Monoru Yasui, & Fred Korematsu) filed lawsuits challenging the legality of Executive Order 9066; none were successful. However, after the war, public opinion began to shift and in the 1980s the three men re-opened their earlier lawsuits. "Unfinished Business" documents the stories of these three men and how their lawsuits affected the Japanese-American community.

"Unfinished Business" (1985) is a worthwhile documentary on an important topic - one of the low points in American history. The documentary is definitely a no-frills affair, with minimal narration, text, and recreations, which might bore audiences today used to flashier documentaries. At times, the documentary doesn't include enough detail and is poorly paced. For example, the narrator mentions that many of the men in the camps were later allowed to join the U.S. military, but they provide no details about how this change occurred. Instead, it focuses on brief interviews with some of the Japanese-Americans who were forced into the camps. Their stories are affecting and in no need of adornment. However, the finale concerning the lawsuits is told in an incredibly flat and technical manner with no suspense or elaboration; it almost seems like an afterthought. Despite these weaknesses, "Unfinished Business" is still informative. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards, losing to "Broken Rainbow" (another film documenting the "relocation" of an American minority group).

I show this documentary to my 8th grade class as part of studying Washington State history its history of internment camps and the Japanese-Americans from our state who were imprisoned during WWI. This documentary opens up great possibilites for disucssing the treatment of Muslim Americans and Hispanic Americans in present times and how entire groups are intimidated and harrased simply for how they look and who they are, out of some sort of misplaced fear. (At least this is what my very compassionate and savvy young people tell me!) Talk about learning ( or not) from history...

This movie was extremely interesting and made a "hidden" part of our country's history quite understandable to middle school students. All of my students kept asking "But what about the first amendment?" "What about the 5th or 6th amendment?" Is this legal to do to American citizens? I was so pleased that the students were able to make the connection between what we have learned in class and real life situations.

Don't expect too much...but no doubt about it, the topic is very interesting...
it's just that the tempo and rhythm of the doc is not that catching. Wish it were really.But don't regret buying it. Simply learning about American concentration camps is something that definitely needs the same attention than all those Nazi story's that directors keep reminding us about...
How can we be so fanatic and paranoid as human beings?