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Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)

Posted By: supersoft
Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)

Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)
105 min | XviD 640x272 | 926 kb/s | 23.976 kb/s | 96 kb/s MP3 | 699 MB + 3% recovery record
Japanese | Subtitles: English, Italian and Spanish .srt | Genre: War / Drama

An agonizing portrait of desperate Japanese soldiers stranded in a strange land during World War II, Kon Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain is a compelling descent into psychological and physical oblivion. Denied hospital treatment for tuberculosis and cast off into the unknown, Private Tamura treks across an unfamiliar Philippine landscape, encountering an increasingly debased cross section of Imperial Army soldiers, who eventually give in to the most terrifying craving of all. Grisly yet poetic, Fires on the Plain is one of the most powerful works from one of Japanese cinema’s most versatile filmmakers.

Duro relato antibélico que narra la desesperada situación, abocada a la derrota, que está sufriendo el ejército japonés en Filipinas en 1945, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Ichikawa retrata de forma implacable, con su habitual mirada cínica y humor negro, las correrías de un grupo de soldados japoneses y su lucha por su supervivencia recurriendo a la violencia, al robo e incluso al canibalismo.

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)


Set on the island of Leyte in the Philippines in the winter of 1945, as Allied Forces cut the Japanese off from support. The Imperial Japanese army, with barely any weapons or ammunition, has been told to fight to the death or commit suicide. Private Tamura, who is sick with tuberculosis has been told to commit suicide if unable to get help from a field hospital, and is given several yams. Tamura gets lost in a forest, and runs into a villager, who offers him food. When the villager tells Tamura that he will look for some food, Tamura follows him, only to see him yelling for people to help. Tamura then runs. On his way to the hospital, he notices a mysterious fire on the ground. Fearful that it might be a signal fire for allied planes, he runs away from it.

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)


When he arrives he is told they only take in people who are about to die. Outside the hospital, he finds a group of wandering Japanese soldiers who have met similar fates. He sticks with this group until an artillery barrage destroys the hospital, and forces the group to scatter. Soon, on the horizon, he sees three Japanese soldiers, and Tamura runs up to them. After introducing himself, they sight another fire. Tamura says they are signal fires, and that they should leave. The leader of the group says that farmers are just burning rice stalks to re-fertalize fields. The leader then comments to his group that they need to move or they will never get to Palampon, where they will supposedly be evacuated. Tamura asks if he can come along with them to Palampon. The leader of the group says that if he can keep up, he can come along, and comments that his group is tough, and that they'd even eaten Human flesh in New Guinea. One member of the group notices that Tamuras bag is overflowing with salt, and Tamura agrees to let them have some as long as they take him to Palampon.

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)


The group soon comes across a larger group of soldiers headed to Palampon, where it is rumored they will be evacuated. Among this group is Nagamatsu and Yasuda who are doing their best to sell tobacco for food or money. Tamura befriends Nagamatsu. The soldiers then prepare for nightfall, when they will travel to Palampon. Attempting to cross a heavily traveled road at night, tanks ambush them and the survivors are forced to retreat. In the morning, the Red Cross arrives and Tamura plans to surrender, but watches as a Filipina guerilla soldier in an American jeep guns down survivors of the attack.

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)


Tamura again begins wandering. Delirious with hunger, he comes across his comrades Nagamatsu and Yasuda, who claim to have survived on "monkey meat" and are living in a small shelter in the forest. Later, Nagamatsu goes out to hunt "monkeys", and Tamura asks Yasuda if there is any place he can find food. Yasuda says he can use his grenade on a pond to get fish out. When Tamura brings out his grenade, Yasuda steals it, and Tamura leaves, to find Nagamatsu. When Nagamatsu almost shoots Tamura, he knows what monkey meat really is. Nagamatsu pleads with Tamura, saying that they would be dead if they didn't eat it. Tamura then leaves with Nagamatsu to go back to Yasuda. When Nagamatsu hears that Tamura's grenade got stolen, Nagamatsu says they need to kill Yasuda, or he will kill them with the grenade. Nagamatsu pretends to search for Yasuda, then when he hears Yasuda coming. he hides near a hill and shoots Yasuda. Nagamatsu begins cutting Yasuda up, Tamura becomes disgusted and shoots Nagamatsu. Tamura then deliriously heads towards the "fires on the plains," which are frequently commented on by characters throughout the film, trying to find someone "who is leading a normal life." He is shot by the farmers who have been fanning the fires to re-fertilize the fields, and falls, dead.

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)

Kon Ichikawa - Nobi aka Fires on the plain (1959)


In 1960, the film won the Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography, the Kinema Junpo Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Eiji Funakoshi) and the Mainichi Film Concours for Best Actor (Eiji Funakoshi), all three in Tokyo. In 1961 it also won the Golden Sail at the Locarno International Film Festival.

Criterion Collection rip by WRD.
Subtítulos en español de Allzine, a quienes se agradece.

Screenplay/Guión: Natto Wada (Original story: Shohei Ooka)
Cinematography/Fotografía: Setsuo Kobayashi
Editing/Edición: Tatsuji Nakashizu
Music/Música: Yasushi Akutagawa
Cast/Reparto: Tamura: Eiji Funakoshi, Yasuda: Osamu Takizawa, Nagamatsu: Mickey Curtis