The story of Hiroo Onoda is certainly fascinating – a soldier so dedicated to defending his nation while stationed on a remote island in the Philippines during the final days of the Second World War, he refused to surrender after the war was declared over, remaining an active soldier on duty for nearly 30 years afterwards, stationing himself amongst the overgrown terrain of the now-peaceful island. His staunch refusal to set down his gun and assimilate back into society after the war ended would have very easily have made for a more absurd story, since it does lend itself to the slightly more humorous side, at least in theory (after all, this is the tale of a man who decided to fight in a one-man war for three decades after being told that he has been relieved of duty) – but mercifully, we didn’t have to endure some blase interpretation of Onoda’s life, since Arthur Harari wrote and directed Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (French: Onoda, 10 000 nuits dans la jungle), a fascinating character study that takes a look at the real-life individuals life, both prior to entering into service, going from a troubled young man to one of the most cherished figures in Japanese culture, a man whose firm refusal to stop fighting, even when there was no one to oppose him other than the sporadic curious local, made him the pride and joy of a nation that celebrates those who are commited to honouring their culture. As his third feature-length film, Harari proves himself to be a truly gifted filmmaker, and his ambitions in telling this story only further support the argument that he is someone whose career we’d benefit from watching closely – and whether focusing on the broad strokes of historical context, or shading in the story of the titular character with intimate details, Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle is an absolute triumph of both form and content, and one of the year’s most exceptionally beautiful films.

The concept of war has been explored so frequently in cinema, any film that needs to actually make time to mention how much of a harrowing ordeal it is to be involved in armed conflict is dealing primarily in redundancies, since unless the viewer is looking for a steadfast propaganda film, the vast majority of us go into these films with the knowledge that war is not a particularly pleasant experience. Harari foregoes many of the traditional conversations and instead gets right to the point throughout Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle, not wasting any time in developing the story beyond what he assumes the audience already knows and agrees with. While it may focus on an almost folkloric figure in Japanese military history, whose valiance and dedication (both of which were clearly driven by some peculiar delusions), hailing him as a hero, the film doesn’t lean towards presenting the three decades in which he was in voluntary service of his nation as anything other than pure chaos. The director achieves this through a few well-placed themes, which manifest directly in the story – motifs such as the gradual destruction of Onoda’s squadron, until he was essentially the last person remaining, is perhaps the most powerful, contrasting with the stunning imagery that surrounds him in the neverending jungle to continue fighting a war that he refuses to acknowledge has ended, which Harari caputures with such fervency, forming the foundation for a tremendously strong effort that gives the audience fascinating insights into the mind of a man who has allowed the fatal combination of a deep sense of patriotic duty and the wounds of war (both physical and psychological) to cloud his judgment, forming a series of delusions that prevent him from seeing the reality of the situation.

There’s a dynamic quality to this film that can’t be understated, with the very distinct visual style working in conjunction with the story to give us the opportunity to relive these decades through the main character’s perspective. Harari and director of photography Tom Harari meticulously craft a film mainly defined by its scope, capturing the jungles of this island in the Philippines with a stunning precision to tells us more about the circumstances surrounding the war than any overwrought commentary ever could. There’s a visceral element to Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle that is difficult to put into words, with the shocking nature of the film (which is not afraid to showcase the gruesome details that come with a war as violent and disturbing as the one fought in the Pacific) is intertwined with the gorgeously evocative storyline, which is so carefully crafted, it borders on being outright poetic. Never has nature been simultaneously beautiful and horrifying as it was in this film, with the main character being framed as an animal, working his way through that jungle as both predator and prey, attempting to survive agains tthe odds, while doing whatever it takes to honour the country that has essentially forgotten about him, having given up on retrieving him. In their eyes, he is nothing more than a remnant of the war, someone who has become so invested in his own insanity-driven quest to defend his country abroad, he has essentially been allowed to be left to his own devices. It makes the sequences that follow his life in the final days before he is officially relieved of his duties both vicious and bittersweet, since Harari doesn’t lean into the sentimentality too much, but also doesn’t avoid adding the human element into the film, which is of paramount importance in a film like this, especially when it is dealing with a subject as harrowing as warfare, which is rarely all that pleasant a subject to discuss, particularly in a film as hauntingly beautiful as this, which pushes as many boundaries as it constructs, which is already an impressive amount.

Despite the epic scope, Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle is a film that works best when we consider it an intimate character study. Clocking in at just under three hours, there is a lot of space to develop the titular character. Having a war film of this length is not unknown for the genre, but it is rare to find a performance as dynamic as those given by Yuya Endo and Kanji Tsuda, the two actors tasked with playing Onoda at different points in his life. The former is the younger version of the titular character, a rambunctious and vicious young soldier determined to honour his country as a means to prove his mettle as someone who has been consistently underestimated throughout this life, while the latter is the older, more complex version of Onoda, existing in a world of delusions that he has come to call him home, struggling to imagine life outside of this jungle. The two actors are incredible – despite differences in appearance, their approach to playing Onoda is absolutely admirable, developing the character alongside each other, and as a result seeing similar traits move between them as the film transitions between the two. The weight of the subject matter is not wasted on these characters, as they show a fervent willingness to frequently engage with the material, getting lost in this world and rarely doing anything other than redefining the boundaries of what can be told through the format. Special mention must be given to Issey Ogata, who has a small but unforgettable part as the commandant that incites the fiery patriotism in the main character that ultimately fuels his refusal to surrender. These actors are the primary reason why Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle never feels like it is retreading the same trite conventions normally associated with the biographical war film genre, instead leaning into the more idiosyncratic qualities that made Harari’s efforts to tell this story so much more complex than we’d have expected from a cursory glance.

Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle is a film layered with meaning, and all of it comes through in the form of Harari’s fierce dedication to telling the story. It’s always very clear when a filmmaker has a sincere passion for the material, and throughout this war epic, we’re given direct insights into the life of an enigmatic figure, whose solitary resistance can be described in a lot of ways, whether it be undying devotion to his country, or the darkly comical delusions of someone driven made by the horrors of war. Either way, the director maintains a strong sense of control, presiding over the film with a fierce dedication that we don’t often see when it comes to war films. It seems almost inappropriate to refer to Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle as such, since it is so detached from many of the cliches and conventions, it becomes less about war, and more about the journey undertaken by a man whose experiences in armed conflict caused him to lose his perception on reality, to the point where nothing could distract him from the mission he was set out to accomplish, even explicit instructions to stand down. It makes for truly captivating viewing, especially since Harari does not resort to any of the predictable twists and turns we’d expect from such a film. Instead of being rivetted by the action-packed violence and games of strategy, we’re instead invited to take a trip into the heart of war and its aftermath, going on this journey of self-discovery with a man who comes to only know how to be a soldier, losing all function when it comes to being an ordinary human being. Complex, insightful and often quite dark, Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle is an absolutely incredible film that is far more than just another historical drama, but instead something much more enlightening, especially in the moments where it is touching on some of the fundamental aspects of the human condition.