From "Tora! Tora! Tora!" to "Pearl Harbor": the evolution of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in foreign cinema

the article is devoted to the analysis of the representation of the attack on Pearl Harbor in foreign cinema as an important tool for the formation of cultural memory and public perception of historical events. The evolution of cinematic interpretations is considered on the example of two key films "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (1970) and "Pearl Harbor" (2001). The first film is analyzed as an example of the desire for documentary accuracy and objectivity, demonstrating events on both sides of the conflict and relying on a broad source base. The second film, on the contrary, is an example of the dramatization and romanticization of history, where historical authenticity is sacrificed for entertainment and emotional impact on a mass audience. The purpose of this article is to conduct the evolution of the cinematic approach through a comparative analysis of the two films: from an attempt at an impartial reconstruction of events and their causes in "Tora! The Torah! Tora!" before creating a large-scale patriotic saga in Pearl Harbor, where the historical background serves only as an entourage for a personal drama. This transition from "facts to emotions" not only reflects the changing cultural demands of the audience and the technological capabilities of cinema, but also directly affects the formation of mass historical consciousness, often replacing the complexity of the past with mythologized and simplified images.

cinema, USA, history of the Second World War, Pearl Harbor, Japan, Pacific Front