Review of Fires on the Plain (2015) by Bernard A — 11 May 2009

I think this is the first non-Kurosawa Japanese film I've seen from the golden age of Japanese films, and it confirms my suspicions: in 50 years we have accomplished nothing.

This movie plays out very, very similarly to Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima," but lacks the special effects and the salvation. Everything you'll see in Ichikawa's movie is depraved and awful, with almost no redemption to be found among any of the characters. It's a little heavy at times; not in that it's tough to watch, but in that there's so little relief from the doom and gloom. Clearly a stylistic choice, but still. I feel tired having just seen it.

I gotta go get the Burmese Harp and some other Ichikawa movies now. Dammit.