Sunday, September 1, 2024

Allegiance (2016)

IMDb plot summary: Allegiance illuminates one of American history's lesser known chapters as it tells the story of Sam Kimura, transported back nearly six decades to when his younger self and his sister Kei fought to stay connected to their heritage, their family and themselves after Japanese Americans were wrongfully imprisoned during World War II.
Directed by Lorenzo Thione. Starring Lea Salonga, Telly Leung, and George Takei.

Allegiance is the filmed version of the Broadway musical written by George Takei and inspired by his and his family's experiences in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. It centers around one family, where the adult brother and sister take very different tactics toward their imprisonment -- he enlists in the military so he can prove they're loyal Americans, and she takes up with the camp leader of a revolution against their jailers. This is definitely a fascinating historical story, and the script and performances are all pretty solid. It's the songs where this show lets us down. There are a few memorable tunes, but also a lot of repetitive ones that don't have much of an arc and make me wonder if this was initially imagined as a sung-through show entirely. We have some incredible performers giving it their ally -- you're never going to have a bad time listening to Telly Leung and Lea Salonga sing -- but I can't imagine I'll want to add the cast album to my playlist any time soon. It's a good story, though, and I'm glad it's being told, even if I wish it were just a little bit better.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Allegiance > Le voyage au Groenland
Allegiance < Kuroneko
Allegiance < Kajaki
Allegiance > Secret in Their Eyes
Allegiance > Ben-Hur (1959)
Allegiance > Hereditary
Allegiance < Música
Allegiance > Space Sweepers
Allegiance < Saltburn
Allegiance < Joker
Allegiance < Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
Allegiance < Battle Royale
Final spot: #1528 out of 3955, or 61%.

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