Review of Fires on the Plain (1959) by Peter D — 22 Mar 2012
Fires on the Plain is a harrowing account of the Japanese invasion of the Phillipines. It is a story of Tamura, a Japanese soldier suffering from Tuberculosis and his struggle to survive among his increasingly crazed and demoralized countrymen.
The depiction of violence is brutally realistic for the time and doesn't pull any punches. It shows death as being a blood filled sorry mess and doesn't shy away from close-ups of piles of corpses.
The film is thematically mostly about man's struggle to stay alive, while still remaining parts of his humanity. In that the film shows soldiers turning to cannibalism due to the lack of food and as Tamura struggles with hunger he attempts to avoid stooping that law.
There is no glory of war in this film everything is bleak and desolate. The waning sanity of the soldiers is well portrayed by the actors and feels very real and nerve wracking. The black and white cinematography would be beautifully if it weren't so bleak and is one of the main reasons of why the film is so effective in showing the viewers the total brutality of war.
Overall the film is very effective in its anti-war message and is a still a harrowing and effective treatment of war and the limits of humanity.
This review of Fires on the Plain (1959) was written by Peter D on 22 Mar 2012.
Fires on the Plain has generally received very positive reviews.
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