Film Review: When You're Smiling: The Deadly Legacy of Internment

2001

Directed by Janice Tanaka
Review by Kye Leung, Michael Liu
(with Thanks to Marilynne Hamano Quon)

The films asks the question what would've happen if Japanese Americans were not incarcerated? Filmmaker Tanaka looks into the lives of Nisei (second generation) and Sansei (third generation) Japanese Americans after the camps. Discovering a pattern of Japanese American deaths from suicide and drug overdoses, Tanaka searches her parents history to understand how the experiences of internment affected the mental health of the Japanese American community.

After the War is Hell
The story focuses on the story of Tanaka's parents and other Japanese Americans. Tanaka's father is an aspiring boxer before Pearl Harbor and Executive Order 9066. Considered a threat to national security, Japanese Americans are forced to take a loyalty test and then sent to camps, including those who were American citizens. Under these conditions, Tanaka's father and mother marry. After the war, Japanese Americans faced continued racism from American society in their daily lives.

As Tanaka's narrative reveals, Nisei were traumatized by the internment experience. they fought not only poverty but also withdrew mentally within themselves. These inner demons exacted a terrible price; an estimated 40% of Nisei do not live past the age of 60.

Sansei Shtik
The film focuses particuarly on the Sansei. When Sansei children grew up, there was a vacuum between the Nisei and Sansei. This vacuum, another aftereffect of the camps, was expressed in drug abuse, sucide, and street gangs. The film follows the wanderings of this "caught" generation, eing a little discussed side about how the camps damaged the Japanese American community.

The film also shows how Civil Rights Movement spurred Sansei to explore their own history and learn about the camps. These Sansei later spurred the successful redress movement.

When You're Smiling is a powerful award-winning film. It introduces you to little known heros like Evelyn Yoshimura, Mike Nakayama, and Merilynne Hamano Quon. It reveals that violence against a community does not stop with the end of the abuse.

Boston Asian American
Film Festival

Co-sponsored by: Museum of Fine Arts and Asian American Resource Workshop

April 5-14, 2001 at
Museum of Fine Arts,
Remis Auditorium
465 Huntington Ave, Boston.

FEATURED PROGRAM:

--Saturday, April 14, 3:45 p.m.--
Comrades by Edward Wong (1999, 27 min.) and When You're Smiling by Janice Tanaka (1999, 60 min.) Co-sponsored by aamovement.net

Comrades: A presonal documentary about two men who took part in the violent socialist struggles of the mid-20th century. Yook Wong joined the Communist
Revolution that swept through China in 1949. A generation later, Alex Hing founded a group in San Francisco called the Red Guard, modeled after the communist youth group in China. In the end, the revolution didn't turn out the way anyone expected.

When You're Smiling: (reviewed here)

More Info on topic:
East Wind Magazine
Personal histories of Japanese-American activists, affected by the internment and redress.