"Changi" (2001) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Writer:

John Doyle (writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

14 October 2001 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Changi follows the story of six young Australian mates who go to war. They land in Singapore in 1942...

Plot Keywords:

Singapore | Asia | TV Mini-Series | Australia | Prisoner Of War

Awards:

3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Stephen Curry	...	Eddie (6 episodes, 2001)
Leon Ford	...	Bill Dwyer (6 episodes, 2001)
Matthew Newton	...	David Collins (6 episodes, 2001)
Mark Priestley	...	John 'Curley' Foster (6 episodes, 2001)
Joel McIlroy	...	Bertie Jenkins (6 episodes, 2001)
Shingo Misawa	...	Colonel Nakamura (6 episodes, 2001)
Alan Morris	...	James / ... (6 episodes, 2001)
Sean Taylor	...	Colonel Smythe (6 episodes, 2001)
Gotaro Tsunashima	...	Lieutenant Aso (6 episodes, 2001)
William Upjohn	...	CSM Bryson (6 episodes, 2001)
Anthony Hayes	...	Gordon Yates (5 episodes, 2001)
Dean Atkinson	...	Bernie / ... (5 episodes, 2001)
Nicholas Hope	...	Guillaume Koper (5 episodes, 2001)
Christopher Baker	...	Lofty Morgan / ... (4 episodes, 2001)
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	Older David Collins (3 episodes, 2001)
Masa Yamaguchi	...	Guard (3 episodes, 2001)
Scott Youll	...	Guard (3 episodes, 2001)
Ian Bolt	...	Father Paul (2 episodes, 2001)
Peter Carroll	...	Doctor Hurrell / ... (2 episodes, 2001)
Ichiro Harada	...	Guard (2 episodes, 2001)
Andrew James Mead	...	Captain Lovegrove (2 episodes, 2001)
Ishihara Tatsumi	...	Captain Shindo (2 episodes, 2001)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Trivia:

A total of 53 sets and locations had to be made and dressed including the prison barracks and a Malayan jungle. Just finding a site big enough to hold the main set of three 8 meter high buildings, which could pass for Singapore was laborious.

Quotes:

[The Secret Nine are trying to distract a Japanese soldier.]
David: Well, let's see. We've got our English-Japanese dictionary.
Eddie: Great. Let's look up, "Hey, you, look over there." That's sure to work.

Loved this DVD

I have an advantage in reading other's comments before making my own. I have heard this "accuracy" comment about other movies/mini-series before and I really don't understand people's statements. Visual stories about historical events are never accurate unless they are documentaries. Beautiful Mind, and Seabiscuit are both examples of movies about true events that were off the mark where telling the whole truth is concerned.

I liked Changi because it showed the effects of war on soldiers both at the time of the event, and on their future lives. I thought the flash backs, both forward and backward, were fine--after all I want to watch a story that makes me use my brain, not just be mindlessly entertained. I thought the humor at times was sophomoric, but weren't most the soldiers in WWII of the age to be sophomoric? I loved the music, and I thought the "Singing Detective" type transition into song was very believable here, as the human mind in times of stress, pain, and torture will use its own devices to preserve sanity--the song sequences could be the writer's depiction of one way the human soul protects itself. How many of you have experienced completely weird dreams while suffering from an illness accompanied by high fever?--this is my point. As to the Japanese captors and the way they were portrayed--the commander here was, in my opinion, a detached person that let his underlings assume all of the responsibility for the horrid treatment of the POWs while the commander fed his bird and listened to music--totally detached, and I think in the end out of touch with reality. As for Lt. Aso, it was plain to see that this character was both bitter and jealous and took this out on his charges. Lt. Aso was bitter that he was not in the thick of the war instead of being stuck at Changi in charge of insulting, spirited, enemy prisoners. He also could not figure out why these enemy soldiers made jokes to laugh at, and sang songs to buoy their spirits.

I also thought the story showed that in a normal situation these six blokes would not have been friends. Their personalities were to varied--from the supremely bright to the un-educated; incredibly brave to perpetually cowering; passively innovative to unbelievably creative. However, under the situation of a POW camp these diverse individuals came together and drew from each other's strengths in order to survive, and in that situation became mates. Rowdy was the father/headmaster figure that the six turned to in times of trouble that was above their expertise. Rowdy also was available to buck them up when their spirits were flagging, and gave them hope that they would survive.

I'm buying this DVD for my WWII collection.