Onoda - 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (2021) [Film Review]

Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle; or, Lonely Warrior
     They’d said, “We’ll come back for you.”
I have been aware of the real life story concerning Hiroo Onoda for quite some time, but I have never known all the details. If you have not heard about it, the phenomenon of the so-called Japanese holdouts refers to soldiers who were either uninformed or refused to believe that World War II had ended. Arthur Harari’s Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle tells the story of a man who kept on fighting until 1974 on a remote island.

Release Info

Directed by: Arthur Harari Starring: Yuya Endo, Yuya Matsuura, Kanji Tsuda, Tetsuya Chiba, Issey Ogata

Language: Japanese Original Title: ONODA 一万夜を越えて Runtime: 166 min

Synopsis
Young Hiroo Ononda (Yuya Endo) is an intelligence officer training at a special facility under the guidance of Major Taniguchi (Issey Ogata). In 1944, he was sent to Luband Island in the Philippines with a mission of limiting the impact of enemy attacks. Nevertheless, the Allied Forces liberated the island in 1945. While the rest of Japanese troops either died or surrendered, Onoda and three other soldiers continued to carry out their guerilla activities, waiting for the arrival of Imperial forces.

Left Behind
In my opinion, Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle is a gripping adventure drama which provides an insight into the life of a soldier who is perceived by many as the paragon of discipline and devotion to homeland. Still, it has to be acknowledged that the movie was not based on Onoda’s official autobiography but rather other historical accounts, such as Bernard Cendron and Gérard Chenu's Onoda, seul en guerre dans la jungle; hence, it is difficult to label the film as a biographical motion picture. The director himself was heavily influenced by the novels of Joseph Conrad and Robert Louis Stevenson (source: press book).

Nevertheless, the movie closely follows the major events from Onoda’s stay on the island. It is fascinating to see how he rejects the tell-tale signs that the war is over and proceeds to blindly believe that Japan will team up with China in order to “liberate” the Asian continent. This is a story of false presuppositions and delusions, but also of incredible sacrifice, especially in view of the fact that Onoda was not alone at the beginning of his crusade.

Although the movie lasts nearly three hours, you do not feel bored at all. I think it’s best to say that Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle is divided into two parts: the first one focuses primarily on young Onoda (Yuya Endo) and young Kinshichi Kozuka (Yuya Matsuura) trying to survive during the 1950s. In 1969, we see aged characters (played by Kanji Tsuda and Tetsuya Chiba respectively) as they try to stay in hiding, away from the local villagers. I appreciated this unconventional measure of double performance, but I believe that the movie would have worked better if there were two actors playing the characters consistently from beginning to the end.

That being said, I appreciate the onscreen performances as well as the supporting parts done by veteran actors like Issey Ogata and Kyusaku Shimada. Beautiful on-location cinematography by Tom Harari also cannot go unnoticed.

Recommendations
I suggest you watch the film back-to-back with Kazuo Hara’s unforgettable documentary The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987) in order to get a full picture of what was going on in the Philippines towards the end of the war. Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle is going to be released in UK cinemas by Third Windows Films on the 15th of April. VOD/Blu-ray edition will follow appropriately on the 16th of May. The disc is going to include interviews with actor Kanji Tsuda, director Arthur Harari, DOP Tom Harari, and assistant director Benjamin Papin.

Overall score: 8/10

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