The script of this compelling antiwar film is based on Shohei Ooka’s 1951 novel Nobi, and was adapted for the screen by director Kon Ichikawa. It tells the story of Tamura, a Japanese soldier suffering from tuberculosis at the end of World War II who deserts his unit and wanders around a Philippine island as the American troops arrive to liberate the Philippines. On his journey, Tamura encounters a couple, an American platoon, and other lost Japanese soldiers who reflect his own inner turmoil. The film depicts war’s life or death struggles as a highly irrational and dehumanizing experience.