Kon Ichikawa

Fires on the Plain

Fires on the Plain

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.

Film Info

  • Japan
  • 1959
  • 104 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 2.39:1
  • Japanese
  • Spine #378

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
  • Introduction by Japanese-film scholar Donald Richie
  • Program featuring interviews with director Kon Ichikawa and actor Mickey Curtis
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Chuck Stephens

    Cover by Michael Boland

Purchase Options

Coming soon, available Aug 5, 2025

Collector's Sets

Collector's Set

Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films

Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films

DVD Box Set

50 Discs

$650.00

Out Of Print

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
  • Introduction by Japanese-film scholar Donald Richie
  • Program featuring interviews with director Kon Ichikawa and actor Mickey Curtis
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Chuck Stephens

    Cover by Michael Boland
Fires on the Plain
Cast
Eiji Funakoshi
Tamura
Osamu Takizawa
Yasuda
Mickey Curtis
Nagamatsu
Credits
Director
Kon Ichikawa
Producer
Masaichi Nagata
Original story
Shohei Ooka
Screenplay
Natto Wada
Cinematography
Setsuo Kobayashi
Editing
Tatsuji Nakashizu
Production design
Tokuji Shibata
Music
Yasushi Akutagawa

Current

Fires on the Plain: Both Ends Burning
Fires on the Plain: Both Ends Burning

Kon Ichikawa’s incendiary and extraordinarily brutal war film renders the emotional carnage that festers long after the battle’s end.

By Chuck Stephens