‘Fires on the Plain’ Blu-ray Review: Shinya Tsukamoto's Haunting Cinematic Symphony of War!

Shinya Tsukamoto's Fires on the Plain blu-ray slip cover from Third Window Films

There are only a handful of films that show the sheer hell on earth which was WW2. America have given a few decent shots at the subject from time to time, however Shinya Tsukamoto’s 2014 mini epic, Fires on the Plain (野火), can rightfully be hailed as something different. The film is told from the perspective of the Japanese invading the Philippines towards the climax of the war. Based on a novel, it has been adapted prior, however Shinya is known for the extreme, so he does the source material justice.

Shinya Tsukamoto broke out with Tetsuo in 1989. A pandemonium view of metal, body horror, stop motion, and absolute chaos. No one had seen anything quite like it. Also showing himself as a great actor as well as a director, writer, etcetera, Shinya went on to torment audiences again and again with a maelstrom of intense films.

Tsukamoto is one of my favourite directors of all time, so it’s rather criminal that I’ve only featured him once on Severed Cinema with Tetsuo III: The Bullet Man (see review of Tetsuo: The Bullet Man Review on DVD from IFC Midnight here) and to be honest, that isn’t one of his best works. So, allow me to bring balance and order to a wonderful visionary talent.

Fires on the Plain (not to be confused with the 2021 police drama of the same name, nor the 1959 original adaptation) is about a Japanese soldier, Tamura (played by the director himself) who is kicked (well smacked around the face) out of his platoon because he has tuberculosis, his lungs constantly hacking up. He wanders to a nearby ramshackle hospital but is turned away since there are greatly wounded people inside. Being a kind soul, he hands over his rations of yams and returns to his platoon. Once again, he’s beaten and sent away. Back on the hospital grounds he meets two other soldiers, the sly Old Man, who torments his younger comrade, Yasuda, making the kid trade smokes for yams and having him cry for his failures.

Suddenly the hospital comes under fire and his destroyed, so everyone splits up. Tamura is alone wandering for days and nights, hungry, weakened by his illness. Along his way he finds a field of yams but poisons himself by eating a raw one. “I need fire…” he decides but has nothing to light one. Coming across the remains of a village, he sleeps and awakens upon hearing a woman singing. She enters the building he is inside along with a man, seeing Tamura she begins to scream. He begs for matches and keeps shouting, “I won’t kill you!” The rifle goes off in his hands and she falls. Her colleague runs away.

Tamura is stunned by his own actions but nevertheless, by her corpse, he finds a hidden stash of salt, which he takes. Later that day he chances upon a ragtag group of soldiers with a Corporal at the helm. At first, they are dubious of him, but allow him in upon discovering the salt. The Corporal explains how they have had a message that all survivors must head to a place called Palompon, where they will be shipped back home. Tamura also learns that his own platoon was all killed. He has wandered for so long in the jungles alone that he was unaware of anything. The Colonel tells him to stick with him as bullets dodge around him. More haunting, the Colonel explains how he and his men have survived before on human flesh.

Thus begins their trek for many miles to the rendezvous point. Along the way are many decomposed corpses, and crazies, including a man who says what a fine day it is before blowing himself up. Tamura also finds the Old Man and Yasuda again. The big question will be: is Palompon a place of escape or a trap? And how long before starving, almost mad soldiers resort to cannibalism to survive?

In Fires on the Plain there are endless shots of the dead, of blood and violence, but it’s done in such a way that it’s almost tragically beautiful. Shinya is an incredible director. The gore and effects are first-rate. The team lead by Satoshi Narumi of Hiroko the Goblin, One Missed Call, etcetera, work hard to produce decapitations, exploded bodies, and half craniums — the list is endless.

46-50 minutes in has a scene which rivals any war movie for sheer uncut carnage. Hundreds of panicking soldiers are cut down one after another whilst the Corporal (showing that indeed bullets dodge him) tries to help as many as he can. It is done with a soundtrack and with a dark backdrop in mainly slow motion that my Partner in Gore, Willow, and I watched very still. Our jaws ready to fall to the floor. Simply put, this is stunning in its shocking centrepiece surrounded by a film awash with blood.

Aside from Shinya, acting awards must go to Lily Franky (Yakusa Apocalypse, Bakuman), as the young sobbing Yasuda, who before long is showing traits of an animal in the wild, and of course, Tatsuya Nakamura (Bullet Ballet) as the memorable Colonel.

Fires on the Plain begins slowly and steadily, but casually starts to dish out the raw servings more and more. Having just recently reviewed Sam Mason Bell’s latest, Taped Up Memories (see the review Taped Up Memories which also delves into the depths of war and madness) it’s kind of cool to review two flicks so close together that deal with the horrors or war and the after effects on those battling so much more than the ‘enemy.’

Third Window Films have released Fires on the Plain as a double disc Blu-ray/DVD combo with a neat cardboard slipcase. The quality of the picture and sound are amazing and has an accompanying one-hour long making of documentary, plus a commentary by the author of ‘Iron Man: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto.’

AKA: 野火, Nobi, Ognie w polu, Пожары на равнинах, Eldens fält, 塚本晉也之野火

Directed by: Shinya Tsukamoto
Written by: Shinya Tsukamoto (Shohei Oooka – novel by)
Produced by: Shinya Tsukamoto
Cinematography by: Shinya Tsukamoto
Editing by: Shinya Tsukamoto
Music by: Chu Ishikawa
Special effects by: Natsuko Kada, Satoshi Narumi, Taku Nakano, Masako
Cast: Shinya Tsukamoto, Lily Franky, Tatsuya Nakamura, Yusaku Mori
Year: 2014
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese (English Subtitles)
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 1h 27min
Studio: Kaijyu Theater

Distributor: Third Window Films