"Resistance at Tule Lake" is a film that explores the Japanese internment during WWII...and emphasizes the Tule Lake concentration camp, as it was designed to hold the 'worst of the worst'...at least in the eyes of the Justice Department and US military.
The story begins just after WWII begins in America. Suddenly, Japanese-Americans who were simply citizens were seen as potentially dangerous...agents of Imperial Japan. And, without trials or due process, 120,000 people in the continental US were placed in these crappy camps. Not surprisingly, some of these people resented this and instead of swearing allegiance to the US, they refused. After all...why swear allegiance if you are already a citizen?!
The story then switches specificially to Tule Lake (in Norhtern California, near the Oregon border). This camp has been designated for the worst trouble-makers among the Japanese-Americans...and their horrible treatment (including torture) is chronicled in this documentary.
The film is very simply made...with minimal incidental music and camerawork that mostly seems on the cheap. Now this does NOT mean it's poorly made...the film is very compelling but obviously the folks who made it had limited funds. Still very worth your time...and quite sad that such things could have happened in America.
The story begins just after WWII begins in America. Suddenly, Japanese-Americans who were simply citizens were seen as potentially dangerous...agents of Imperial Japan. And, without trials or due process, 120,000 people in the continental US were placed in these crappy camps. Not surprisingly, some of these people resented this and instead of swearing allegiance to the US, they refused. After all...why swear allegiance if you are already a citizen?!
The story then switches specificially to Tule Lake (in Norhtern California, near the Oregon border). This camp has been designated for the worst trouble-makers among the Japanese-Americans...and their horrible treatment (including torture) is chronicled in this documentary.
The film is very simply made...with minimal incidental music and camerawork that mostly seems on the cheap. Now this does NOT mean it's poorly made...the film is very compelling but obviously the folks who made it had limited funds. Still very worth your time...and quite sad that such things could have happened in America.
