Nobi (1959)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Kon Ichikawa

Writers:

Shohei Ooka (novel)
Natto Wada (writer)

Release Date:

25 July 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

In the closing days of WWII remnants of the Japanese army in Leyte are abandoned by their command and face certain starvation.

Plot Keywords:

Starvation | WWII | Cannibalism | Field Hospital | Sweet Potato

Awards:

6 wins

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 13

2:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Eiji Funakoshi	...	Tamura
Osamu Takizawa	...	Yasuda
Mickey Curtis	...	Nagamatsu
Mantarô Ushio	...	Sergeant
Kyu Sazanaka	...	Army surgeon
Yoshihiro Hamaguchi	...	Officer
Asao Sano	...	Soldier
Masaya Tsukida	...	Soldier
Hikaru Hoshi	...	Soldier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jun Hamamura
Yuzo Hayakawa		(as Yuji Hayakawa)
Tatsuya Ishiguro
Yasushi Sugita	...	Soldier

Also Known As:

Fires on the Plain

Runtime:

108 min | Argentina:110 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan

Company:

Daiei Studios

Trivia:

In order to achieve maximum authenticity, actors were fed very little, and were not permitted to tend to matters of simple hygiene such as brushing their teeth and cutting their nails. As a precaution against serious deterioration of the actors' health, a number of nurses were always on call on the set. Eiji Funakoshi was never specifically told not to eat. He willingly starved himself to help get him into character. The rest of the cast and crew were unaware of this until he collapsed on-set. Production was shut down for two weeks.

Quotes:

Dying Buddhist soldier: [to Tamura as he opens his eyes] What? You still here? Poor guy, when I'm dead, you can eat this.
[He outstretches his arm]
Dying Buddhist soldier: [Disgusted by the thought, Tamura leaves] Come back! You can eat me!

Perfectly Capturing the Insanity of War

During WW2 in the Philipines, Japanese soldiers are starving, dying, growing weak, and becoming more and more insane. A small group of soldiers, trying to stay alive, have eventually resorted to cannibalism. This film perfectly portrays the insanity that overtakes people under extreme conditions. There are a few humorous parts in this movie, but the majority of it is just a very slow moving and realistic film. It follows these soldiers from one painful moment to another, and eventually to death. A very interesting film, showing the death, and the horror, of what may have been the worst war the world has ever seen.