Remembering Manzanar Summary and Analysis

Remembering Manzanar (2004) Summary and Analysis

Summary

Remembering Manzanar is a documentary film that tells the story of the Japanese-American citizens who were sent to internment camps during the World War II. The movie first begins with the Japanese people moving into the United States, looking at the kind of life they were living. Then, World War II broke out and in 1942; President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 9066 into law. As a result, over 100,000 thousand Japanese people were forced out of their homes and sent to one of the ten relocation centers that were spread throughout the country. When the Japanese-American citizens were forced out of their home they were told that “they are being evacuated to protect them”. Upon arrival the citizens were afraid as the guns that were supposed to be protecting them were bring pointed towards them. In Addition, the entire camp was surrounded by a barbed wire. The documentary then looks at the people`s lives inside the camp. Families lived in small and poorly built homes, Kids had to play within the camp, and the location of the camp was subject to extreme weather and sand storms. The film also talked about the Japanese-American citizens joining the U.S. army to serve the country. These people had their own group within the army and were treated poorly. Finally the Japanese-Americans were allowed to leave the camp and the movie ends with President Ronald Regan signing legislation that apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government.

Analysis

As I was unsure of what to analyze in the film, I will be writing my reaction and opinion about the film. First of all, before I watched the movie, I already had some background knowledge from the readings that were provided in class. That being said, watching the film gave me more knowledge as to how bad the internment camp really was. One thing that really struck me in the film was when they said to the Japanese-Americans “they are being...