Nobi / Fires on the Plain

Based on the 1951 eponymous novel by Shōhei Ōoka, this film is a widely regarded meditation on survival among stranded Japanese soldiers in the Philippines in late World War II. This Japanese film follows a soldier, Tamura (Eiji Funakoshi), who, along with hordes of other men, has been stranded in the jungles of the Philippines. As Japan's Imperial Army faces dire conditions -- the men have been cut off from communication, and food is scarce -- gruesome realities descend. Some men go insane. Others resort to cannibalism. Amid the brutality and hopelessness, Tamura, who has tuberculosis, flees his troop and struggles to survive.