Direct management of homepage and database content
Data analytics on microsite usage, interest in British films and series elsewhere on Telescope, British films and series available across platforms, and more
Functionality that enables engagement with users directly from the microsite (create a campaign, conduct a survey, build a widget)
Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese intelligence officer in the Imperial Army during World War II, ends up marooned on the Philippine Island of Lubang for nearly 30 years, believing the war hasn't ended.
Soberly shifting from war thriller to apocalyptic drama to oddly sentimental buddy film, “Onoda” bears the weight of its many filmic forefathers. But as it pulls off such moves with such quiet force, it also represents a different kind of emergence.
Part John Ford, part Sam Fuller, the film’s old-fashioned approach is oddly impressive: To tell this kind of story in such blunt-edged, straightforward style is a distinctive choice when the temptation to veer into revisionist war-is-hell commentary, Malickian nature-study or Herzogian descent-into-madness bombast must have been strong.
This gripping tale of misguided patriotism recreates a vanished set of circumstances via excellent performances and well-tailored cinematic choices. While there are a few meditative lulls in this 165-minute adventure — which opens Un Certain Regard in Cannes — the proceedings are never dull and an accretion of detail leads to a memorably moving denouement.
Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle, which runs two hours and 45 minutes, is an achievement: a moving and multifaceted film about one man’s quixotic attempt at leading a meaningful life.
In the end, the movie is about a delusional guy who doesn't realize he's been indoctrinated, but it is also an emotional exploration of loyalty, camaraderie, and stubbornness.
Along the way, the director, Arthur Harari, takes the exhausted true tale of the lone Japanese soldier and sculpts it into a captivating tragicomedy, a sharp-eyed study of zealotry and self-delusion, ridiculous and heartbreaking in about equal measure.
WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING?
Be the first to comment about this film.
WHAT ARE CRITICS SAYING?
TheWrap by Ben Croll
Little White Lies by David Jenkins
The Irish Times by Donald Clarke
Variety by Jessica Kiang
Screen Daily by Lisa Nesselson
The Playlist by Mark Asch
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Collider by Rafael Motamayor
The Observer (UK) by Xan Brooks