June 2001 Volume 82 Number 6 "serving the protectors"
Pearl Harbor
Edited by John Ballantyne

It may have been nearly 60 years ago, but Americans will never forget what happened at the Pearl Harbor naval base, Hawaii, where Japanese fighter planes carried out a surprise air-strike on December 7, 1941. The then US president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, branded it "a date which will live in infamy", making the words immortal.

In reliving the event many times since and in numerous movies, Hollywood has ensured that the rest of the world also remembers.

With Michael Bay's multi-million-dollar blockbuster, Pearl Harbor, the history-changing incident which drew America into World War II gets its most spectacular cinematic treatment so far, with a story that takes place both before and after the Japanese sneak attack.

The dramatic historical events also serve as a backdrop to a love triangle between two lifelong friends and the woman they both love.

After crop-dusting in Tennessee, the friends, Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett) join the US Army Corps as pilots. A romance between Rafe and navy nurse, Evelyn Stewart (Kate Beckinsale), is cut short when Rafe volunteers for action with the Eagle Squadron comprised of Americans who have joined England to fight Germany during the Battle of Britain before America had officially entered the war. In the meantime, Danny and Evelyn are posted to Pearl Harbor.

They receive word that Rafe has been killed in action, news that draws them closer, but their mutual comfort of each other turns to something deeper and Danny and Evelyn fall in love. Rafe, however, is alive, and his return creates hostility between the two friends, but the Japanese attack dramatically suspends any resolution to their personal situation.

Retaliatory raids on Japan led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle (Alec Baldwin) are America's response to the crippling strike. In the thick of the dangerous missions are Rafe and Danny who now have to put aside their differences and reconsider the friendship they once had.

A huge cast plays both fictional and real characters. Among these are Jon Voight as President Roosevelt and Cuba Gooding Jr and Tom Sizemore as two real-life unexpected heroes of the attack.

Pearl Harbour premieres in SA on June 7.

Into the Arms of Strangers

For nine months before World War II, Britain conducted an extraordinary rescue mission, opening its doors to thousands of Jewish children from across Europe. These children were taken into foster homes and hostels in Britain, expecting eventually to be reunited with their parents. The majority of them never saw their families again.

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport is a documentary feature about this remarkable rescue operation and its dramatic impact on the lives of the children who were saved. Told in the words of the child survivors, rescuers, parents, and foster parents, these are the stories of those who survived: stories of courage and hope; stories about the strength and resolve of children; and, most astonishing, these are stories rarely heard about the impact of the Holocaust.

The film has been produced by a multi-award-winning team, headed by Mark Jonathan Harris - writer and director of the Academy Award-winning film The Long Way Home - and Deborah Oppenheimer. The film is narrated by Oscar-winning British actress, Dame Judi Dench.

This project takes a different path than many films about the Holocaust because it is not just about the Holocaust," says Oppenheimer. "This film is about love, loss, survival, and memory; it's about parents and children."

Oppenheimer's own mother was one of the saved 10,000 children. And like so many of the other children, Oppenheimer's mother lost her parents in the Holocaust.

Parents promised each of their children, "We will soon come and follow." As one of these children commented later: "How otherwise (could) the parents have got the little children onto the trains?"

Each child was allowed to take one suitcase and one rucksack, the contents of which were rigidly restricted. One of the children, Eva Hayman, recalled: "We had about a fortnight before we left. And into that fortnight, both mother and father were trying to give the instructions, the guidance that they hoped to have their whole life to give."

Risk

Ben Madigan is one of the many hopefuls trying to make it big through the sharp world of personal injury. He gets mixed up in insurance scams with Kreisky, a disgruntled employee and Louise Roncoll, a sleek but greedy solicitor. Stars Tom Long, Bryan Brown and Claudia Karvan.

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