Bryan Brown, George
Takei, John Polson and Russell Crowe in his feature film debut head a
brilliant cast that dramatically reveals for the first time the
shattering secrets trapped within a BLOOD OATH.
BLOOD OATH
on DVD contains many exclusive and educational special features from
behind the scenes footage, to study guide materials and for the first
time the original documents from the Ambon War Crimes trials, which
explain the entire trial process. Also available on the BLOOD OATH
DVD is the Music Video Memorial Day by Russell Crowe's band
30 Odd Foot of Grunts.
Brian A. Williams.
Blood Oath: Where does War End and Murder Begin?Based
on the screenplay by Denis Whitburn and Brian A. Williams.
A fictionalization of the true story of the author's father, the
prosecutor for the Australian war crimes tribunal, who set out to
prove the guilt of the Japanese officer who had ordered the execution
of 300 Australian prisoners of war in 1945.
"My grandfather was a cinematographer in the second world war.
His
name was Stanley Wemyss.
He shot photographs in all the, all theatres
of war that Australia and New Zealand troops worked in. He got a lot
of medals for his work but one specific medal, it was called the M.B.E.,
that's the Member of the British Empire.
It's presented to you by the
Queen,
the Queen of England.
He was hired to record the destruction
and
it depressed him throughout his whole life.
I mean he saw some
pretty horrific things.
He died in about 1988 and this song is for
him. It's called... Memorial Day."
Image above and Sound excerpt below of Russell Crowe and
In addition to the extras that we've learned to expect
from a quality DVD (commentaries, interviews, trailers, music videos,
etc.), Blood Oath gives us a DVD-Rom packed with extra features.
Over 400 pages of material make it perhaps the largest collection of
additional information ever collected for a feature film. Listed
below is just some of the extra material referred to extensively in the
Special Features on the DVD and Commentaries by the director and the
writers/producers:
Contains
curriculum ideas, discussion points, questions and Internet links to
suggested research sites.
"Blood Oath: a 'Reel
History'", by Prof. Hank Nelson. Originally published in
Australian Journal of Historical Studies, 1991.
An extensive
bibliography containing books and videos from the United States,
Australia and the United Kingdom. Numerous newspaper articles.
Original mass trial documents.
Convention
(III) Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, August 12, 1949
(Geneva Convention).
Protocol
Additional to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, and Relating
to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts
(Protocol I), June 8, 1977.
Original maps of Ambon, Halong
(Ambon) Naval Air Base, Tan Toey POW Camp.
Opening address by Prosecutor
Capt. John M. Williams at mass trial on
Ambon.
Original documents from the
trial of Lt. Hideo Katayama, the officer on whom the Lt. Tanaka
character was based, including the full transcript of his trial and
other documents arranged in procedural order from investigation to
sentence and execution.
Original correspondence
between Japanese officials and Prosecutor John M. Williams.
The full text of the book written by the
Chief Japanese Defending Officer Mr. Somiya Shinji about the Ambon
trials, published for the first time since 1946.
Address by
Writer/Producer Brian A. Williams for the 50th Anniversary of the
Geneva Conventions. Moscow, 1999.
The life and
death of John Myles Williams, 1915-1994, with accompanying
eulogies and Japanese responses.
Also included as
both text and audio is the address given by
former
Prosecutor John Myles Williams
to the cast ofBlood Oathat Warner Roadshow Studios on August 12, 1989.
