Yup, we've changed the name of the film several times (you have no idea how many wine fueled discussions over the darned title have been had)! And yup, we've come full circle back to TORA. The very first draft of the script was titled Tora! Tora! Tora! It was a placeholder and (of course) the title of the epic film about the bombing of Pearl Harbour. It was never meant to stick. As we went into production we still hadn't found an appropriate title and even the clapperboard read TORA. It was sticking to us and growing on us. After many title changes - (the film became "Heir To It All" for a long time) ...we've come back proudly to TORA.
The 1970 film title, Tora! Tora! Tora! is made up of the code-words that were used by the Japanese to indicate that complete surprise at Pearl Harbour was achieved and is translated as "虎" or "tiger", hence making the code for achieved surprise "Tiger, tiger, tiger". There's not a tiger to be seen in our film but the bombing of Pearl Harbour was what precipitated the internment of Japanese citizens of Canada and other countries around the world and therefore, our story.
The shortened title is also an homage to that film. Tora! Tora! Tora! was an American/ Japanese co-production and was actually directed by two directors, one American and one Japanese. An astounding collaboration of two cultures broken apart by that world changing event. The film attempted to show both the Japanese and the American sides of the bombing and by interweaving the two stories, made a brave attempt at truth and forgiveness.
Our epic short film TORA also weaves two stories and cultures with themes of loss, hope and forgiveness. TORA remembers what happened post Pearl Harbour with hopes that "History won't fade as easily as it's lessons" in today's post 9-11 world.
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