[review] Nankyoku Tairiku - 南極大陸
Jan. 10th, 2012 11:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosa_elefanteThough I still have to post Umareru review... *procrastinates*
So many tears... :(
First of all I'd like to say that, with my poor English, I surely won't be able to fully express how much I like this drama.
The drama is based on a true story: the first 'wintering' Japanese expedition to Antarctica, setted after the 2nd WW.
Kuramochi Takeshi (Kimura Takuya), is an assistant professor of Geophysics at Tokyo University, whose dream is to go to Antarctica; not only because his deceased father went there before him, but also because he thinks that this project will give strenght and hope to Japan, and will make other world countries aware that Japan is still there, still strong, even after the tragedy of the war.
At the beginning the Japanese Government treats him like a fool, but after some time the preparations begin: they start to accomodate an old ship, Soya, for being an icebreacker and to recruite members for the expedition.
Kuramochi and Inuzuka (Yamamoto Yusuke), a young boy who said he has experience in dogs training because he wanted to be a member, while it isn't true, go to Hokkaido to find some Sakhalin huskies for the dogsleed. Among the dogs they find there's the perfect leader, Riki, and two brothers, Taro and Jiro, sons of one of the dogs who went to Antarctica with Kuramochi's father.
That's why, at the beginning, Kuramochi and Inuzuka (and the professor who suggested to bring the dogs too) are the only ones that consider the dogs like true members of the expedition, just like the other men.
When, after some troubles, they arrived, 10 of them offer themselves as volounteers to 'wintering-over': they'll stay in Antarctica for a year doing researches for the sake of future expeditions. It's a quite dangerous thing, since they are on a coast wich has never been explored.
During this year the members develop a strong bond and they recognize the dogs as their companions.
A year passes, and it's time for them to return in Japan. But, for a series of coincidences, they have to leave the dogs in Antarctica, condemning them to certain death.
Kuramochi will be able to return there only after another year, hoping that the dogs are still alive...
You grow up to like every single member who spent the winter in the South Pole: they're all good men who take their assignment seriously and care for each other.
Kuramochi is somehow their leader; few years ago he was the leader of a mountain expedition, where he lost a friend, so he always thinks about the security of his comrades. And, as you can see from the end of the drama, he truly loves Antarctica.
It was the first time for me watching Kimura acting, and... he's awesome.
Anothe character I liked since from the very beginning is Himuro (Sakai Masato): he's the Government spokesman, so he's often in a difficult position. At the start he's cold, cynical and skeptical, he doesn't believe in Kuramochi's dream; but after climbing a mountain with Kuramochi and being saved from the dogs, he starts to open himself more, and you can say he's a very good person.
A special mention for Yamamoto Yusuke, who in this drama plays the role of Inuzuka, a naive boy who doesn't know what to do with his future. This guy is an amazing actor, really: he's so young and he has done so many different roles. In this drama is performance was touching and adorable.
And the dogs, gosh, they were wonderful.
The soundtrack is probably the best drama OST I've ever heard (the theme song too: it's beautiful): I still can't listen to some of the traks without crying.
And at the ending there was a really beautiful sequence, wich compares the past with the present. Truly beautiful.
From what I've written you may think that this is nothing special, but it's not like this.
You know... there are dramas, movies, or whatever, that touch something inside us. Nankyoku Tairiku didn't change my life, but touched me inside.
This drama made me cry at every single episode (especially the last ones: I was crying HARD) and it made me see the strenght and the hope not only of human beings, but also of those dogs. Like Kuramochi said (during an heartbreacking scene): "We were hoping that, 10 years from now, the Antarctic expedition would come to symbolize 'the Japan that refused to give up'. However, the ones who refused to give up were not us, but them" :(
So many tears... :(
First of all I'd like to say that, with my poor English, I surely won't be able to fully express how much I like this drama.
The drama is based on a true story: the first 'wintering' Japanese expedition to Antarctica, setted after the 2nd WW.
Kuramochi Takeshi (Kimura Takuya), is an assistant professor of Geophysics at Tokyo University, whose dream is to go to Antarctica; not only because his deceased father went there before him, but also because he thinks that this project will give strenght and hope to Japan, and will make other world countries aware that Japan is still there, still strong, even after the tragedy of the war.
At the beginning the Japanese Government treats him like a fool, but after some time the preparations begin: they start to accomodate an old ship, Soya, for being an icebreacker and to recruite members for the expedition.
Kuramochi and Inuzuka (Yamamoto Yusuke), a young boy who said he has experience in dogs training because he wanted to be a member, while it isn't true, go to Hokkaido to find some Sakhalin huskies for the dogsleed. Among the dogs they find there's the perfect leader, Riki, and two brothers, Taro and Jiro, sons of one of the dogs who went to Antarctica with Kuramochi's father.
That's why, at the beginning, Kuramochi and Inuzuka (and the professor who suggested to bring the dogs too) are the only ones that consider the dogs like true members of the expedition, just like the other men.
When, after some troubles, they arrived, 10 of them offer themselves as volounteers to 'wintering-over': they'll stay in Antarctica for a year doing researches for the sake of future expeditions. It's a quite dangerous thing, since they are on a coast wich has never been explored.
During this year the members develop a strong bond and they recognize the dogs as their companions.
Kuramochi will be able to return there only after another year, hoping that the dogs are still alive...
You grow up to like every single member who spent the winter in the South Pole: they're all good men who take their assignment seriously and care for each other.
Kuramochi is somehow their leader; few years ago he was the leader of a mountain expedition, where he lost a friend, so he always thinks about the security of his comrades. And, as you can see from the end of the drama, he truly loves Antarctica.
It was the first time for me watching Kimura acting, and... he's awesome.
Anothe character I liked since from the very beginning is Himuro (Sakai Masato): he's the Government spokesman, so he's often in a difficult position. At the start he's cold, cynical and skeptical, he doesn't believe in Kuramochi's dream; but after climbing a mountain with Kuramochi and being saved from the dogs, he starts to open himself more, and you can say he's a very good person.
A special mention for Yamamoto Yusuke, who in this drama plays the role of Inuzuka, a naive boy who doesn't know what to do with his future. This guy is an amazing actor, really: he's so young and he has done so many different roles. In this drama is performance was touching and adorable.
And the dogs, gosh, they were wonderful.
The soundtrack is probably the best drama OST I've ever heard (the theme song too: it's beautiful): I still can't listen to some of the traks without crying.
And at the ending there was a really beautiful sequence, wich compares the past with the present. Truly beautiful.
From what I've written you may think that this is nothing special, but it's not like this.
You know... there are dramas, movies, or whatever, that touch something inside us. Nankyoku Tairiku didn't change my life, but touched me inside.
This drama made me cry at every single episode (especially the last ones: I was crying HARD) and it made me see the strenght and the hope not only of human beings, but also of those dogs. Like Kuramochi said (during an heartbreacking scene): "We were hoping that, 10 years from now, the Antarctic expedition would come to symbolize 'the Japan that refused to give up'. However, the ones who refused to give up were not us, but them" :(
