| Dir: Ichikawa Kon |
| Japan | 1959 | B&W | 105min | English Subtitles |
| Cast: Funakoshi Eiji, Takizawa Osamu, Mickey Curtis |

Another anti-war classic by Ichikawa, Fires on the Plain exchanges the lyrical atonement of The Burmese Harp for a harrowing darkness. In 1945, a ragtag Imperial Army troop hides out in the jungles of the Philippines, growing sicker, weaker, and more desperate. Facing starvation and insanity, the soldiers turn on each other and descend into a nightmare. Funakoshi Eiji gives an astonishing performance as Private Tamura, the only man trying to survive without breaking his personal moral code (the actor actually starved himself to bring reality to the character). The inhumanity of war has rarely been so visceral.