Hell in the Pacific

During the Second World War, two hostile soldiers are accidentally stranded on an uninhabited Pacific island: instinctively, the American (Lee Marvin) and the Japanese (Mifune Toshirō) fight each other in their tattered uniforms, even though they are both fighting for survival. The absurd conflicts give rise to reluctant cooperation - but can the friendship born of necessity overcome the long-internalized enmity? The human duel provides the allegorical framework for Boorman's captivating nature ballad (cinematographer: Conrad Hall): “Because the two had no common language, the plot could not be driven forward by dialog. I had to tell the story in pictures,” says Boorman. From the art of his silent film idols - D. W. Griffith, von Stroheim, Eisenstein, the German Expressionists - Boorman grippingly distils the essence of his equally elemental and metaphysical cinema. (C.H.)

Photo: Images Courtesy of Park Circus/Walt Disney Studios