VILLAGE ROADSHOW PICTURES Presents A CHARLES WATERSTREET and SEIGE Production
A Film by STEPHEN WALLACE

BRYAN BROWN In "BLOOD OATH"

Made with the Participation of
THE AUSTRALIAN FILM FINANCE CORPORATION PTY. LIMITED
Script Developed with the Assistance of THE AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION
A SKOURAS PICTURES RELEASE

Running Time: 109 minutes

Film Facts:

Cast -
Captain Robert Cooper - Bryan Brown
Vice Admiral Baron Takahashi - George Takei
Major Tom Beckett - Terry O'Quinn
Major Frank Roberts - John Bach
Lt. Hideo Tanaka - Toshi Shioya
Mike Sheedy - John Clarke
Sister Carol Littel - Deborah (Kara) Unger
Private Talbot - Jason Donovan
Private Jimmy Fenton - John Polson
Lt. Jack Corbett - Russell Crowe
Sgt. Keenan - Nicholas Eadie
Captain Wadami Ikeuchi - Tetsu Watanabe
Mr. Shinji Matsugae (lawyer) - Sokyu Fujita
Lt. Col. Johnson - Ray Barrett
Lt. Noburo Kamura - Kazuhiro Muroyama

Crew

Director - Stephen Wallace
Producers - Charles Waterstreet, Denis Whitburn, Brian A. Williams
Co-Producer - Annie Bleakley
Executive Producers - Graham Burke, Greg Coote, John Tarnoff
Screenplay - Denis Whitburn, Brian A. Williams
Music composed/performed by David McHugh
Film Editor - Nicholas Beauman
Director of Photography - Russell Boyd, A.C.S.
Production Designer - Bernard Hides
Costume Designer - Roger Kirk
Casting - Alison Barrett, Nobuaki Murooka

Shooting Schedule - Principle photography on "Blood Oath" began August 14, 1989 and was completed October 6, 1989.

Location - The film was shot entirely on location in and around the Warner Roadshow Studio complex in Queensland, Australia.

MPAA Rating: R

Awards & Nominations - The following is taken from the DVD 'extras'.
1990 AFI Award – Best Achievement in Costume Design – Roger Kirk
1990 AFI Award – Best Achievement in Sound – Ben Osmo, Gethin Creagh & Roger Savage
East-West Center Award Nominee for Best Promotion of Understanding Among the Peoples of Asia, The Pacific and the United States – Hawaii International Film Festival, 1990.

AFI (Australian Film Institute) 1990

Nominated

Best Achievement in Cinematography - Russell Boyd
Best Achievement in Production Design - Bernard Hides
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - John Polson
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Toshi Shioya
Best Director - Stephen Wallace
Best Film - Charles Waterstreet, Denis Whitburn, Brian A. Williams, Annie Bleakley, Richard Brennan
Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted - Denis Whitburn, Brian A. Williams

Russell's Weight: 165

The island of Ambon in Indonesia, 1945. During the War, the number of Australian POWs on the island had dropped from 1100 to less than 300 due to abuses by their Japanese captors.

Capt. Cooper is the chief prosecutor. In a mass grave, the bodies of 300 executed servicemen have been unearthed. Cooper assumes that the massacre was ordered by Baron Takahashi, Japanese commander on Ambon. But the one potential witness has gone mad and is due to be shipped back to Australia. No captured airmen were found alive on the island at all, not even the four-man crew of a reconnaissance plane shot down late in the War.

Takahashi is returned to the island in the custody of an American officer, Maj. Beckett. But there is little evidence with which to prosecute the Baron. Cooper thinks he could make a case for the missing airmen if only their bodies could be located. And why does Maj. Beckett appear interested in not seeing Takahashi convicted? Cooper gets a break when Lt. Tanaka, a communications officer and a Christian, surrenders himself.

Favorite Scenes:

Very early in the film it's obvious that Russell has already learned what it takes to take a simple role and make it into a memorable one.

(Grabs a big white towel.)

Simmons. S-I-double M-O-N-S. (Throw sweaty towel at Mel Gibson's brother Donal over your commanding officer's head - and then finish the line) …patriated… flew out two days ago.

Stephen Wallace, Director: "This scene now is a very apocryphal scene in the film. When Bryan Brown takes the law in his own hands. As a prosecutor… an appalling thing for a prosecutor to do. To come in and beat up an accused prisoner. And I think that Russell Crowe at the end tries to infer that without saying a word."

"Better get that seen to."

I've always said Russell can say more with silence than most other actors can with a soliloquy, which is why this is one of my favorite scenes.

The young pencil sharpener apprenticing at the shoulder of, in Russell's own words: "this gigantic, Bronzed Australian."

Images thanks to Kaspinet

Credits for screenshots  

Blood Oath images are copyright Blood Oath Productions P/L
Film Finance Corporation 1990 and Roadshow Entertainment 2002

Comments by Russell:

Excerpts from, "Ray Martin Live" interview with Russell Crowe and Bryan Brown.

Copyright Ray Martin Live/TCN/Nine Network Australia 2001

Russell: I'd gotten a thing called 'The Crossing' and then they put it off which basically was typical for me. I thought, yeah right, I get a movie, now their not gonna make it, you know? And so in the interim I was um, you know, I got Stephen Wallace that directed that film wanted me to do this role in 'Blood Oath', so I call that my apprenticeship. Ten weeks of being an apprentice you know, working every day with Bryan. And uh, not just about you know in terms of technique with a camera or anything but really for me it was about how you conduct yourself with people on the set 'cause um… [to Bryan] Mate, you're not going to enjoy this [to Ray] but this guy's fantastic. I tell you what—he answered every question that I asked him and I asked him a lot of questions. And um… at the end of that film I thought I was much better prepared, that I actually had an understanding what the medium was about.

---

Ray: Could you tell at that stage who was going to win an Oscar?

Bryan: No of course you can't tell things like that…

Ray: The way he sharpened pencils?

Bryan: Whoa jeez, that was close. He was a very good pencil sharpener. (Under his breath as others laugh) Um whew… a few things can slip out there, can't they? Um, no look you know a whole lot of things add up about him. You know about actors is… the ones who do well creep up on you. I remember, I remember John Travolta was one that said that, he said, he did that… what was that TV show he did?

Russell: Welcome Back, Kotter.

Bryan: Welcome Back, Kotter. He said, you know, 'all the other guys were doing things' and he said, 'I was just hanging back there' and he said, 'I snuck right through and became this big star.' And I think that's the thing, I think that’s what happens, is you know acting is about looking for the truth in a thing and so if a person has their own qualities… that's what you never know about a person… you never know until the screen comes on and then you're there and you watch it. And you watch a presence at work and whatever, and that gets wrapped around a character. And uh, it's about being honest, attempting to be honest to the part, and um… certainly on 'Blood Oath' you know, you didn't get a more honest pencil sharpener than Russell.

(laughter)

Russell: "Mate I was the best pencil sharpener in the business."

Russell: The best thing for me on that film was 'cause we worked in close quarters together and we had a few drinks together and stuff every now and then. And you know we had done the thing and you know, a couple of occasions that really stuck in my mind. Running down the beach together one day and this bloke came up to Bryan and he said, 'anybody ever tell you, you look like Bryan Brown?' And he said said, 'only my mum.' (laughter) I've used that about 400 times, I really took advantage of that.

As… as uh you know, the film was over and Bryan was actually in his car and he was leaving the set and he saw me, he got his driver to stop and he got out of the car and he came up to me and he said, 'Mate, thanks very much for what you did in the last 10 weeks. It's probably gonna to be the most difficult thing that you'll do just sitting there being a pencil sharpener, but' um, 'thanks very much for the company.' And we shook hands and I tell you what, it was at that moment that really just injected me with confidence. It was like, if I can have a relationship, you know that is um, meaningful on the set with a person of Bryan's stature, then maybe this IS the right gig for me.

Comments about Russell:

-Stephen Wallace, excerpts from Director's Commentary. Blood Oath Region 4 DVD as released in Australia by Roadshow Entertainment in 2002.

"As you can see there is Russell Crowe, sort of a big name from the film, this was his very first film. Although he played a very small role. …He was recommended to me by another agent, he said he was going to be a star. He already had another role in another film, The Crossing and so he was waiting to do that so we knew he was fairly big. So but I did think when I saw him um, that he was a wonderful actor even then when he was… quite in the way he came in and the screen testing… He was always very solid and a very wonderful actor to work with."

"This scene was Russell's first scene that he shot and he did a great job being basically as he said later, a pencil sharpener. He was an assistant to Bryan and he worked extremely hard to make that part work."

"The sort of um… the theory I had about the casting was I wanted as many good actors, I wanted all good actors. Everyone is a good actor… if there was a good actor I wanted him in the film, which is why we got Russell Crowe in it. I just forced him to be in it I knew he was a good actor. That was all."

"John Polson, I've never seen John Polson work harder than he worked on this film. He did so much research more research than Russell Crowe and that's saying something."

"Just uh, one thing about Russell Crowe again seeing he's now become the big star was that Russell when he first came to um… the casting session… he said to me, 'cuz he was trying out for the role that was actually played by Nicholas Eadie who was the… no it was actually played by Jason Donovan… the soldier who was very sympathetic to the… who had come up from Sydney and was sympathetic to the Japanese prisoners and he just wasn't quite right for the role we didn't think. But anyway he came up and he said, 'I know the role I'm trying out for is only a few lines but I've got some letters that I've written home from New Guinea, or from Ambon… written home to Sydney as the character. Could I read those out on tape for you?' I said sure, he, uh, pulled out this bundle there must have been fifty pages of them, and he read out, he started reading and said, 'No, No, two pages will do.' But he had written about ten letters home from this character and he wrote out the letter, you know, 'Dear Mum and Dad, it's really hot up here…blah, blah, blah…and the Japanese seem decent people'. And he went on and he's done all this research and written all this just to come in for the casting session. So, you can imagine we were quite impressed with him. I always thought though that Russell wanted a bigger part but we gave him the biggest part we could. Not that we knew he was going to be a star but that we knew he was a good actor and I was just grateful he took this part. But I always felt on the set that he always felt that he was better and he wanted to be better he wanted bigger parts, but maybe he just wanted me to praise him more but um, because he had such a small part I didn't really pay a lot of attention to him. He was always so reliable."

"Bryan and Russell worked very well together. There's not a neurosis amongst either of them. They never throw tantrums. It's wonderful to work with actors who don't throw tantrums. An awful lot of actors do."

"I meant to mention before, although Alison Barrett did the casting on this film and she's a wonderful caster, she makes sure that she knows who can act and who can't and she was very enthusiastic about Russell but the person who actually sent Russell over to us, now that we can talk about it in hindsight was Faith Martin. Faith Martin who used to work with Shanahan's [Shanahan Management ] who's a  casting agent …unintelligible… and she discovered, really she discovered Russell and um, she sent him over to us and she said, 'You'd be use this boy Stephen,' she actually rang me, 'you'd better use this boy Stephen, he's gonna be big.' And…unintelligible… I said, 'right' And so I give a lot of credit to Faith Martin for Russell… for showing me Russell but Russell made his own way later on."

"One more thing about Russell is uh… because he's become such a big star… even then he was so dedicated he was so um, so relentless. He's a bit of a relentless guy in real life you know he drives you insane he's so relentless and he was very unsure of himself then but he is just so dedicated and relentless that he is a good model to follow if you're going to be an actor."

Sydney Sunday Herald,  7-29-90

"There's nothing wrong with the Australian film industry that a good movie – or two – couldn't fix and Blood Oath is the flick to do it. …a good script which concentrates on doing the thing well and not sensationalizing… [the events], great actors, superbly crafted atmosphere and – when do Australians ever fail in this department? – the usual world class cinematography."

"AFI-nominated [John] Polson is riveting… nearly stealing the whole show with his superbly controlled, painfully realistic courtroom appearance."

Variety, 6-6-90

"… director Stephen Wallace stages these surefire [courtroom] scenes with maximum tension, helped by a fine gallery of Australian and Japanese actors."

"Blood Oath may be seen in some quarters as anti-Japanese, but it's clearly a serious attempt to shed new light on a 45-year-old tragedy. The result is a film of considerable power."

Daily Yomiuri, 4-13-91 – John Charles

"… dealing with sober [dramatized, undisputed] historical fact. The film will cause controversy… strong medicine… shown uncut. "

"Blood Oath is one of those films that announce their quality from frame one. The direction is subtle and reticent, perfectly suiting the subject; the masterly intercutting of reaction shots and the poignant silences are terrible in their power. The balance of acting talent, the coherence, the believability – they are splendid."

Daily Yomiuri, 6-6-91 - Peter Hadfield

"… likely to cause a storm of controversy when it opens in Japan this month. Leading actor Toshi Shioya calls it 'a film that would probably have been impossible when the Emperor Showa was still alive.'"

"'The film is going to be a bombshell for Americans,' said George Takei – an American Nisei (2^nd generation Japanese)… 'In every way it's an indictment on both my country and my Japanese ancestry.'"

Images at the Movies, 7-90 – Paul Fischer

"… gutsy, intelligent, well-crafted drama that stands alongside the best of international cinema."

"Blood Oath is in some ways a courageous film, and a superb comment on the whole question of justice and politics which played a vital role in these trials. Whether it will appeal to a broad audience is another matter, but the Australian film industry needs intelligent cinema as well as routine fare that has little to say. This movie is a fine attempt at dealing with complex issues; it succeeds admirably."

Il Manifesto (Italian communist newspaper)

Signor Rambo, Lawyer (title) – "Dazzling the screen… [the film] strikes a powerful blow on the spectator… This is a film where the screenplay has the starring role. Not an anti-Japanese film, nor a film about revenge, it is Rambo of the first order… Distilled from a poison which is against power, racism and false democracy which responds to the rules of blood… the film leaves us spellbound."

Hollywood Reporter, 7-18-91 - Kirk Honeycutt

"… the film possesses a sweat-box intensity that grips the viewer and refuses to let go until the final image."

"Brilliantly acted and photographed, "Prisoners" nevertheless faces an uncertain box office in the United States, where the grim nature of the subject matter will tempt only the most serious adult moviegoer. Yet if ever there were a time for a film which demonstrates that making peace is a trickier business than waging war, it's now."

"Director Stephen Wallace gains excellent performances from a talented cast. …shows a flair for dramatizing issues among tough men in claustrophobic situations."

"Cinematographer Russell Boyd catches the vivid colors of the dark jungles and sweaty barracks."

"This docudrama is more docu than drama. Williams, who also co-produced, may have felt a need to stick to the historical record at the expense of fiction which might have achieved a greater truth. Whatever the case, "Prisoners" offers an illuminating chapter on the always sad tale of men and warfare."

Los Angeles Times, 7-19-91 – Michael Wilmington

"'Prisoners of the Sun' [Japanese title Ambon do naniga sabakareta ka? – What was Judged on Ambon?], a polished, often beautifully acted, Australian trial drama, is about individuals crushed in the vise of policy."

"Military trial movies… usually carry a heavy charge of outrage. So does this one. But Stephen Wallace known in Australia as a 'actor's director', tends to submerge himself: using the sort of style – long takes, 'invisible' editing, subtle rhymes from scene to scene – that throws attention on to the cast. The cast responds, hitting the right broad, effective notes…"

Excerpt from:

BLOOD OATH: A REEL HISTORY. Australian Journal of Historical Studies, 1991.

-- Professor Hank Nelson/ANU.

          "The extent to which Blood Oath is history of fiction has eluded reviewers. Several have placed it in direct line of descent from Breaker Morant through Gallipoli… Here are the films – and popular history – of the Boer War, and First and Second World Wars. But while both Breaker Morant and Gallipoli have story lines well known to Australians, the public has little knowledge of events on Ambon from January 1942 to August 1945, or of the Australian military tribunal trials of Japanese military tribunal trials of Japanese war criminals.

          "… Even those reviewers who got the basic description of the film right – as Evan Williams did when he called it 'fictional drama, inspired by a real trial' – they could not be expected to sort out the extent that the reviewers made, and presumably audiences continue to make, judgements believing that they saw something close to reality. They wrote about the 'moral complexities of Australian history'; decided 'the film succeeds in reminding us of how much the history of the second world war still affects our lives; asked 'Were Australians right to execute Lieutenant Tanaka?; and suggested Americans 'will be interested to know how badly their government behaved towards an ally'. (Bulletin, Canberra Times, 8-2-90 and Australian Society, 7-90.)

Web Related Links:

http://www.bloodoath.com.au/mirror site at http://www.kaspinet.com/Blood_Oath.htm
http://www.enhancetv.com.au/guides/BloodOath.pdf