by Annette Basile
Worth: $16.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Diggers
Intro:
You will leave the cinema feeling shell-shocked…
“We never lost hope,” says an Australian former POW. “To lose hope is to die.”
This nameless voice is one of the 63 narrators of this extraordinary and engrossing documentary about the Aussie POWs who built the Thai Burma Railway during World War II. Their memories were captured between 1999 and 2004 as part of an oral history project, and are paired with colourised archival footage, mixed with newly shot frames of the locations where, as prisoners of the Japanese, they worked as slaves.
The soldiers were captured in Singapore in February 1942, and were part of British-led forces that, says one ex-soldier, “surrendered without a fight”. Of the 130,000 Allied troops that were interned during the Fall of Singapore, 15,000 of them were Australian.
The Australians were part of larger ‘work parties’ – comprised of Allied forces plus Tamil, Burmese, and Javanese slave labourers – that faced starvation, disease and death. Under a Bamboo Sky follows the Diggers’ journey from Singapore to the railway site – a 415km stretch that would link Thailand and Burma (present day Myanmar) for Japan to transport military supplies.
The film’s focus is the building of the railway, and the stories are harrowing and gruesome. One former POW explains how hacksaws were used to amputate infected legs – the very same hacksaws that were used to clear the area of majestically tall bamboo. But there is hope here – that ‘Aussie mateship’ cliche turns out to be a very real thing – it’s what got these men through the darkest of days. One former POW even talks about how, despite the conditions, he could still appreciate the beauty of nature. Amidst the cholera, starvation and 20-hour work days, they found a way to get through, but as the film later shows, they came home damaged men.
Under a Bamboo Sky uses tech exceptionally well. Black and white still photos of the Diggers that narrate this have been brought to life, transforming stills into a few seconds of motion.
The colourisation is also amazing – nothing feels fake. This is not the first doco to use technology to tell war stories, Peter Jackson did it in 2018 for the acclaimed They Shall Not Grow Old.
If there is any criticism of Under a Bamboo Sky is that there are almost too many voices – it’s difficult to connect to any one individual. The film also comes with a warning about “negative stereotypes”, referring to some of the former POWs’ comments about the Japanese, which many viewers will find offensive. While these views don’t dominate the narrative, they are uncomfortable.
Director and editor Serge Ou and production company WildBear have created an authentic first-hand historical account that’s been brilliantly edited. Considering what’s happening in the world right now, Under a Bamboo Sky is a timely release, reminding us, yet again, of the horror of war.
You will leave the cinema feeling shell-shocked…
Find where the film is screening near you, here.
