Prisoners of the Sun

As courtroom dramas go, this one's pretty good. And it's got a few twists. For starters, it's court-martial drama. It's set in 1946 at the Australian War Crimes Tribunal during which Japanese officers and soldiers were accused of war crimes against Australian POWs held at the Tan Tai POW camp on Ambon Island in Indonesia. Thus, this courtroom is a thatched island hut and its participants are all fairly remote from the average American's common store of knowledge. Brown plays the Australian prosecutor on a mission to avenge the deaths of over 300 Australian POWs found buried in a mass grave on the island. Only problem is that he's got no solid proof or surviving witnesses. The trial is also made more difficult by the worlds of difference between the Australian and the Japanese ways of doing things: the legal precepts, the moral codes, the conduct of honor. Then, as an American viewer, add another level of distance due to the unfamiliarity of the subject matter and the frequent inscrutability of both the Japanese and Australian methods of doing things. Yet, that's part of what makes Prisoners of the Sun interesting (at least on these shores) - its overall uncommonness. I don't know how this plays in Australia, the land of its origin, but here, at least, it's fairly exotic and enlightening. Courtroom drama has never been one of my favorite film forms (it's generally too static and talky). But this one is driven and focused and well-paced. Brown is commanding as the prosecuting attorney doing his best to see justice done. Prisoners of the Sun is an informative and intriguing examination of war crimes and subsequent resolutions and the differences in national priorities.