(
Filipino: ''Liwayway ng Kalayaan'') also known as ''Dawn of Freedom'',
[, pp. 100-102] and ''Shoot That Flag: The End of Corregidor'' is a 1943 black-and-white
Japanese film
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that e ...
directed by
Yutaka Abe and
Gerardo de León.
Synopsis
The opening credits start as the narrator speaks about
Japan accepting the challenge of the Western powers' arms build-up after having had to stand by for years watching rapacious
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
and
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
tread upon the enslaved peoples of
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...
.
Japan expeditionary forces are rushed to various places in the vast areas of Greater East Asia in order to drive out the Western powers. The first blow in the Philippines is death when Nippon warplanes raid
Clark Air Base
Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located west of Angeles City, about northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was previously a United States military facility, operated by the U.S. Air ...
and Iba airfield on December 8, 1941.
The story of the Japanese victory at the Battle of
Corregidor
Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historicall ...
and the
U.S. military's hasty retreat from the islands. The film presented the Japanese as
Asian liberators who came to free the Filipinos from decades of colonial oppression. Sub-Corporal Ikejima (
Heihachiro Okawa
, also sometimes credited as , was a Japanese film actor active from the 1930s to 1971. With hopes of starting a business, he traveled to the United States in 1923 and studied at Columbia University. He also studied at the Paramount Studios acti ...
) helps a young boy named Toni (Ricardo Pasion), the younger brother of Capt. Garcia (
Fernando Poe Sr.
Allan Fernando Reyes Poe (November 27, 1916 – October 23, 1951) was a Filipino actor and film director during the early era of cinema in the Philippines.
Poe was the father of Fernando Poe Jr., who later became a prominent actor and film i ...
), to walk again after a car accident.
About the Film

The film was premiered in Tokyo on February 5, 1944. Originally entitled ''Hitō sakusen'' (比島作戰) or ''Philippine Operation'' , it was changed to ''Ano hate o ute'' (literally "''Shoot That Flag''"). For the Philippines it was decided to use ''Liwayway ng Kalayaan'' ("''Dawn of Freedom''").
The use of Filipino and American
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
as extras in the film became a matter of controversy after the end of the
war.
Cast and Staff
Staff
* Sponsor: Ministry of Army
* Production : Kazuo Takimura
* Director: Yutaka Abe,
Gerardo de Leon
* Shooting: Yoshiaki Miyajima, Hiroshi Takeuchi
* Screenplay: Yagi Ryuichiro, Oguni Hideo
* Special Technical Director: Eiji Tsuburaya, Eizo Mitani
* Music: Kunio Kasuga
* Art Director: Kitao Hideo, Kitazuo
* Editor: Toshio Goto
Cast
Japanese soldiers
*
Denjirō Ōkōchi – Captain Hayami
*
Seizaburo Kawazu
*
Ichiro Tsukida – Lt. Nanoka
* Kaizaburo Kawazu – Captain Washio
* Fujita Shindo – Susumu
* Nakamura Satoshi – Nakamura Iku
* Masuki Jun – Senior officer Yamada
*
Satoshi Komori – Senior officer Muramatsu
*
Heihachiro Okawa
, also sometimes credited as , was a Japanese film actor active from the 1930s to 1971. With hopes of starting a business, he traveled to the United States in 1923 and studied at Columbia University. He also studied at the Paramount Studios acti ...
– Sub Corporal Ikema Ikejima
*
Tanaka Haruo – Lt. Sakuragi (military doctor)
Filipino soldiers and civilians
*
Fernando Poe Sr.
Allan Fernando Reyes Poe (November 27, 1916 – October 23, 1951) was a Filipino actor and film director during the early era of cinema in the Philippines.
Poe was the father of Fernando Poe Jr., who later became a prominent actor and film i ...
– Captain Gomez
*
Leopoldo Salcedo – Captain Reyes
*
Ángel Esmeralda – Lt. Garcia
*
Norma Blancaflor Norma may refer to:
* Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Astronomy
* Norma (constellation)
*555 Norma, a minor asteroid
* Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy
Geography
* Norma, L ...
*
Rosa Aguirre
Rosa Aguirre (1908–1981) was a Filipina actress who worked for Sampaguita Pictures and Lvn Pictures. She was married to actor Miguel Anzures and mother to controversial actor Narding Anzures.
She made her first movie on 1938, ''Himagsikan n ...
*
Ricardo Pasion
Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname.
People Given name
*Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Port ...
– Toni (Tony)
US Army and officers
* Bert Leroy
* Johnny Arville – Captain Adams
* Frankie Gordon
* Franco Garcia – Captain Smith
* E.S. (Ted) Lockard – US Army men (opening scene)
* Weldon Hamilton – Bataan surrender scene
* Burton C. Galde – Bataan surrender scene
[https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/90891/Dawn_of_Freedom.pdf?sequence=1]
Availability
''Dawn of Freedom'' was released in DVD on January 20, 2015, by
Deagostini.
References
*
* https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/90891/Dawn%20of%20Freedom1.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y - PDF.
External links
*
* Article on history and analysis: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~amnornes/Dawn.pdf
* http://pinoykollektor.blogspot.com/2011/10/48-dawn-of-freedom-philippine-wwii.html
{{Authority control
Japanese war films
Toho films
Japanese black-and-white films
1944 films
Films directed by Gerardo de León
Films directed by Yutaka Abe
Films set in the Philippines
Pacific War films
Films shot in the Philippines
1940s war films
Japanese World War II films