Why is the film Pearl Harbour causing so much fuss

A.� The $150 million Disney blockbuster, which opened in the States last week, tells the story of the devastating Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941. The film, which opens in Japan in July, has caused controversy in Amercia because of alleged inaccuracies in the story. People gathered outside the Japanese/American Cultural and Community Center in the Little Tokyo neighbourhood of Los Angeles to express concern that the film could spark an anti-Asian backlash.�

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Q. Why would it cause a backlash

A.� The movie infers that a Japanese/American helps the enemy in identifying some of the positions in Pearl Harbour the day before the attack.� FBI investigations have shown this to be false, according to Floyd Mori of the Japanese/American Citizens League.� Disney premiered the film aboard an aircraft carrier moored near the underwater graves of the battle it recalls. To many Japanese, such a show of nationalism after February's fatal collision between a US submarine and a Japanese fishing boat was too much. Japan is still shocked by the accident in which the USS Greenville, a sub carrying 16 civilians on a demonstration cruise, crashed into the 65-metre Ehime Mori. Nine people, including four teenage students, were lost at sea. Relations between the two countries have suffered and some fear the brouhaha over the film will worsen them.

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Q.�Does the film�focus on just the attack

A.� The three-hour movie tells the story of the attack through the lives of two American fighter pilots (Ben�Affleck and Josh Hartnett) who fall in love with the same woman (Kate Beckinsale).� Producer Michael Bay spent 40 minutes of a painstaking recreation on the attack on the US Pacific Fleet. It has drawn similarities to the other blockbuster Titanic, which similarly combined love with tragedy and action.

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Q.� Why was the attack on Pearl Harbour so significant

A.� Over 2,400 US personnel were killed in the bombing and the surprise attack catapulted the 'sleeping giant' of the United States into World War 2.

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Q.� Will the film�be shown in Japan

A. It has been heavily promoted in Japan ahead of its 14 July premiere. It is expected to do well, because it is essentially a love story.�Japanese critics have claimed the story is riddled with inaccuracies, however. Ben Affleck's character is supposed� to have fought in the Battle of Britain and became a prisoner of war in Italy before somehow making it to Pearl Harbour.

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By Katharine MacColl�