Fantastic!
It's February, 1945. American forces are sweeping across the Pacific, retaking one island after another. They've landed in the Philippines in force. Japanese troops on Leyte Island are sick, starving, and cut off, with little hope of rescue or resupply.
Desertion, depravity, desperation, and paranoia ensue. But it's not quite as bleak as it sounds. There is morbid fascination, pathos, and gallows humor to be had in watching these abandoned soldiers slowly waste away in the Philippine jungle. It's grim yet somehow eminently watchable, a testament to the skill of director Kon Ichikawa, who also made the magnificent film The Burmese Harp (1956).
It's February, 1945. American forces are sweeping across the Pacific, retaking one island after another. They've landed in the Philippines in force. Japanese troops on Leyte Island are sick, starving, and cut off, with little hope of rescue or resupply.
Desertion, depravity, desperation, and paranoia ensue. But it's not quite as bleak as it sounds. There is morbid fascination, pathos, and gallows humor to be had in watching these abandoned soldiers slowly waste away in the Philippine jungle. It's grim yet somehow eminently watchable, a testament to the skill of director Kon Ichikawa, who also made the magnificent film The Burmese Harp (1956).
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