Review of Fires on the Plain (2015) by Eduardo C — 19 Feb 2016

It is the Philippines. It is 1945. The once proud Fascist imperial armies of Japan have been decimated. All that remains are straggling, starving soldiers marchin' on, mostly devoid of even superior officers.

Meanwhile, the Americans are in full force and can ambush them at will. Guerrillas and even civilians can also kill them at will. Because of the Bushido code, most are still not seriously contemplating surrender.

But many dream of it regardless. The protagonist here gradually realizes to his horror that many of his fellow soldiers have resorted to cannibalism to survive. He vows to be different but is sorely tempted to do likewise.

They march on through the wilderness of the Philippines to avoid detection as long as possible. Eventually he finds a soldier who is attempting to become a Buddha, refusing to leave a tree he is resting against, and when the main character gets up to leave, the other soldier raises his arm and says, "it won't be much longer, why don't you stay and eat me.

" He proceeds on and eventually teams up out of loneliness and desperation with another soldier who seems more energetic than the rest who offers him "monkey meat". He is suspicious because he's seen no monkeys and eventually realizes he's been consuming human flesh all along.

There is a scene in which he waits for an ideal time to surrender. He even has a white flag, but he sees another soldier surrender first who gets machine-gunned by a female civilian, which is perfectly understandable considering the vast extent of the war crime atrocities committed against the people of the Philippines.

Yes, this film is horrific, nearly veering into horror film realm, and unfortunately a true story. It gets a 100% critics approval rating.