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John Woo directs Nicolas Cage in this tale about the Navajo 'codetalkers' of World War Two.

Windtalkers

John Woo’s spectacular Windtalkers - starring Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, Brian Van Holt, Frances O'Connor & Christian Slater - centres on the relationships between the Marines and the Navajo codetalkers they were assigned to protect during World War II.

The codetalkers transmitted messages using an unbreakable code based on their native language. The gripping climax takes place during the battle of Saipan, when the Marines fighting off the Japanese must safeguard the code at all costs.

"The Navajo has the code. Protect the code at all costs."

In World War II, the Japanese were continually able to break encrypted military transmissions, dramatically slowing U.S. progress. Finally, in 1942, several hundred Navajo Americans were recruited as Marines and trained to use a secret military code based on their native language. These Marines were called code talkers. Their code was ultimately the only one never broken by the Japanese and is considered to have been key in winning the war.

In Windtalkers, during the Battle of Saipan, Marines Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) and Ox Anderson (Christian Slater) are assigned to protect code talkers Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie). Their orders are to keep these men safe, but if a code talker should fall into enemy hands they’re to “protect the code at all costs.” As the men become reluctant friends and the bonds of war are forged, each man is ultimately faced with a terrible decision: if they can’t protect their fellow Marines, how far will they go to protect the code?

The Navajo Know

Windtalkers is a character-driven, emotional action drama, set in the Pacific during World War II – a somewhat different setting than John Woo’s other American action films. This time, Woo’s stage is the 1944 Battle of Saipan, recreated onscreen in stunning detail. At the heart of the lightning-paced combat, the story centers on the incredible friendship that develops between Marines in battle and the complex relationship between the legendary Navajo American code talkers and their designated Marine guards.

The theme of friendship and the film’s complex characterizations are what drew Woo and his longtime producing partner Terence Chang to the project. “I fell in love with the story the minute I heard it,” Woo says. “It’s so emotional, a celebration of the human spirit. I had been looking for something different from a generic action film, something our company could develop.” The pair felt they’d found the perfect material in Windtalkers.

Windtalkers presented Woo with the opportunity to revisit ideas similar to those in his celebrated Hong Kong films like The Killer (Woo and Chang’s first collaboration, in 1989) and Hard-Boiled. “John is basically known in the West as an action director, but some of his best films in Hong Kong are largely based on the theme of friendship among men,” Chang says. “He’s obviously very good with action, but he’s also incredible with actors and drama and telling a story in a way that really affects an audience.”

The idea for Windtalkers began with producers Alison Rosenzweig and Tracie Graham. About 10 years ago, Rosenzweig was first told about the code talkers by her brother Seth, a World War II aficionado. He had long been fascinated by their heroic contribution to the war in the Pacific and encouraged her to develop a movie about this relatively unknown chapter in American and Marine history. “I was absolutely compelled,” she says, “but at first I felt their story would make a great documentary and wasn’t necessarily material for a feature.”

Eight years later, while looking for projects to develop, Rosenzweig shared her knowledge of the code talkers with producing partner Graham. “I was immediately enthralled,” says Graham, “but equally perplexed as to how to turn the story of the code talkers into a feature narrative.” Determined, the two producers delved into history books, eventually stumbling upon the dramatic key they’d been seeking.

“I read that during the war code talkers were assigned Marine guards for protection,” says Rosenzweig. “They were to protect the code talker and his code from falling into the hands of the Japanese.” According to Rosenzweig, her reading revealed that if a code talker was in danger of being captured, the Marine guard was to prevent the code from being compromised at all costs. After thorough research, Marine Corps historians were unable to locate any evidence that such orders ever took place – it would be illegal for a Marine to be ordered to kill a fellow Marine. But the notion that a serviceman might have had to kill one of his own, someone he’d fought alongside and with whom he’d become friends, resonated with the producers. Intrigued by the emotional implications of such orders, Rosenzweig and Graham realized they had their story.

It was also fascinating to them that the code talkers were virtually unknown until fairly recently. “The existence of the code talkers was not declassified until the late ‘60s,” says Graham. “Even though the code talkers were invaluable in winning World War II, the U.S. military wanted their accomplishments to remain secret, precisely because they’d been so successful. They were the military’s secret weapon in the war, and they felt they might need them again.”

Mr Woo, I Presume?

Born in Guangzhou, China in 1946, Woo moved to Hong Kong with his family when he was four years old. He was educated at Matteo Ricci College and, at age 19, began making experimental films. In lieu of film school, Woo sought entry-level positions in the flourishing Hong Kong film industry.

In 1971, he began working as an assistant director at Shaw Brothers. Just two years later he made his directorial debut with The Young Dragons. He was then signed to an exclusive contract at Golden Harvest. Two more successful martial arts films followed, The Dragon Tamers and The Hand of Death, the latter featuring action superstar Jackie Chan in his first major screen role.

Woo found equal success with a Cantonese opera film, Princess Chang Ping, after becoming a major force in Asian filmmaking with a string of eight hit comedies, including Money Crazy and From Riches to Rags. Woo left Golden Harvest in 1983 and joined a new company, Cinema City, where he directed the romantic gangster film A Better Tomorrow starring Chow Yun-Fat and Leslie Cheung. Woo’s lush crime thrillers with Chow - which also include the brilliantly choreographed, character-driven action film The Killer and Woo’s last Hong Kong-produced film, Hard Boiled - won enthusiastic fans among audiences and filmmakers around the world. Woo also directed Bullet in the Head, set in wartime Vietnam, the comedy action caper Once a Thief and A Better Tomorrow II.

Woo made his U.S. feature film debut with Hard Target starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. In 1994, he formed WCG Entertainment with his producing partner, Terence Chang. Under this banner, Woo directed Broken Arrow starring John Travolta and Christian Slater and Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. The latter was an enormous box-office hit for the Hong Kong director and was praised by critics worldwide. He then went on to direct Mission: Impossible 2 starring Tom Cruise. A phenomenal success both domestically and internationally, the film opened to the highest grossing weekend figures in Paramount Pictures’ history.

Woo kept busy between his feature films directing pilots for television, including Once a Thief, an adaptation of his feature film, and Blackjack. As well as being involved in films, he also has been involved in various commericail direction including the world famous Nike Brazilian Football Commercial in 1998. In 2001, he won a World Stunt Award for 'Best Action Movie Director'. In 2000, Woo formed Lion Rock Productions with partner Terence Chang, and directed and produced his epic WWII drama Windtalkers and produced the Chow Yun-Fat vehicle Bulletproof Monk. Since then, Woo has directed the BMW short film Hostage starring Clive Owen (Children of Men).

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