''Blood Oath'', known in some countries as ''Prisoners of the Sun'', is a 1990 Australian drama film directed by

Stephen Wallace Stephen Henry Wallace A.M. (born 23 December 1943) is an Australian film and television director, screenwriter, producer, published author and acting coach. He has directed eight feature films, nine telemovies, numerous short films, worked on ...

and co-written by

Denis Whitburn Denis Whitburn (born 13 September 1944) is an Australian film writer and producer. Selected credits *''Crosstalk'' (1982) - writer * ''The Last Bastion'' (1984) - writer, producer *'' Breaking Loose'' (1988) - script editor *'' Bodysurfer'' (198 ...

and Brian A. Williams. The film stars Bryan Brown, George Takei, Terry O'Quinn, John Bach, John Clarke, Deborah Kara Unger, John Polson, Nicholas Eadie, David Argue and Ray Barrett. The film is based on the real-life trial of Japanese soldiers for war crimes committed against

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

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 ...

on the island of

Ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a co ...

, in the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(Indonesia), such as the

Laha massacre Laha can refer to: Laha people, an ethnic group in Vietnam Places * Laha, Seram, Indonesia * Laha, Heilongjiang, a town in Nehe City, Heilongjiang, China * ''Laha airfield'' near Laha Village, on Ambon Island, Indonesia Languages * Laha ...

of 1942. The film was the first film debut for both

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

and

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 mi ...

, in minor roles. It was nominated for several AFI Awards in 1990, including "Best Film". It won the AFI Awards for "Best Achievement in Sound" and "Best Achievement in Costume Design".

Cast

* Bryan Brown as Captain Cooper * George Takei as Vice-Admiral Baron Takahashi * Terry O'Quinn as Major Beckett * John Bach as Major Roberts *Sokyu Fujita as Mr. Matsugae * John Clarke as Sheedy * Deborah Unger as Sister Littell * John Polson as Private Jimmy Fenton *

as Lt. Corbett * Nicholas Eadie as Sgt. Keenan *

as Private Talbot *Toshi Shioya as Lt. Tanaka * Ray Barrett as President of the Bench *Kevin Paul Weeks as the Cook

Production

The film was the idea of Brian Williams, who was the son of Captain John Williams, who had prosecuted Japanese officers in charge of the POW camp at Ambon during the war. He was impressed with the TV series '' The Last Bastion'' and approached Denis Whitburn, who had written it with David Williamson, and they wrote the script and produced together. Bryan Brown and Stephen Wallace then came on board the project (although at one point Geoff Murphy was also considered as director). The movie was shot at the Village-Warner Film Studio on the Gold Coast.

Box office

''Blood Oath'' opened on 60 screens in Australia and grossed A$310,281 in its opening week finishing fourth place at the box office and went on to gross A$707,194 at the box office in Australia. Stephen Wallace has said he thought the film would have been better had the writers been more accurate as the truth was more interesting."Interview with Stephen Wallace", ''Signis'', 21 November 1998
accessed 21 November 2012 The writers announced plans to follow up ''Blood Oath'' with a $20 million film about the Cowra breakout, ''Giants at Dawn'', but this was not made.Kevin Sadlier, "JAPANESE BACK COWRA POW BREAKOUT FILM", ''Sun Herald'', 31 March 1991 p7

References

External links

* *
''Blood Oath'' at the National Film and Sound Archive''Blood Oath''
at Oz Movies {{Stephen Wallace 1990 films 1990 drama films Australian drama films 1990s Japanese-language films World War II war crimes trials films 1990s legal films Pacific War films Films set in Indonesia Films directed by Stephen Wallace World War II prisoner of war films 1990s English-language films Films about capital punishment

Cast

Production

Box office

See also

References

External links