(

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

: ''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 ea ...

directed by

Yutaka Abe was a Japanese film director and actor. He went to America along with a younger brother to visit an uncle living in Los Angeles. There he enrolled in an acting school, and upon hearing that Thomas H. Ince was looking for Japanese extras to work ...

and

Gerardo de León Gerardo de León, National Artist of the Philippines, ONA (September 12, 1913 – July 25, 1981), was a Philippines, Filipino film director and actor. Biography De León, who was born Gerardo Ilagan, was a member of the Ilagan clan of Philippine ...

Synopsis

The opening credits start as the narrator speaks about

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

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 territorie ...

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 and ...

. 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 and Iba airfield on December 8, 1941. The story of the Japanese victory at the Battle of Corregidor 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) helps a young boy named Toni (Ricardo Pasion), the younger brother of Capt. Garcia ( Fernando Poe Sr.), 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 War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

Cast and Staff

Staff * Sponsor: Ministry of Army * Production : Kazuo Takimura * Director: Yutaka Abe,

Gerardo de Leon Gerardo may refer to: People Given name Gerardo is the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of the male given name Gerard. * Gerardo Amarilla (born 1969), Uruguayan politician * Gerardo Bonilla (born 1975), Puerto Rican-born professional race ...

* 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 was a Japanese people, Japanese film actor best known for starring roles in jidaigeki directed by leading Japanese filmmakers. Early life and family Ōkōchi was born Masuo Ōbe on February 5, 1898, in Ōkōchi, Iwaya (present-day Ōkōchi, Buz ...

– 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 – Sub Corporal Ikema Ikejima * Tanaka Haruo – Lt. Sakuragi (military doctor) Filipino soldiers and civilians * Fernando Poe Sr. – Captain Gomez *

Leopoldo Salcedo Leopoldo Salcedo (March 12, 1912 – June 11, 1998) was a Filipino film actor dubbed as "The Great Profile" who specialized in portraying dramatic heroes. Early life Salcedo was born in Cavite. His father was of Spanish descent whose family i ...

– Captain Reyes * Ángel Esmeralda – Lt. Garcia * Norma Blancaflor *

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 ng ...

* Ricardo Pasion – 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