FILM (1968)

Hell in the Pacific
Lee Marvin, Toshiro Mifune
Director: John Boorman

Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune - two actors who taught audiences what it was to be a man. In movie theatres on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, in films such as The Dirty Dozen, Yojimbo, Point Blank and the Samurai trilogy, they were the definition of the strong, silent type.

It seemed only fitting, then, that one of the finest films on the subject of silence should star the two 1960s greats.

A precursor to the millennial stranded-in-the-sea obsession (reality show Survivor, Tom Hanks' Cast Away), the story is simple: an American pilot and a Japanese navy captain are marooned on an uninhabited island somewhere in the Pacific. They have two choices: battle it out in their own war in an uncharted landscape, or pool their resources for a chance to escape.

At a lean 100 minutes, British director John Boorman maintains a clever balance between his two lone cast members and their mutual hatred that slowly turns into tolerance and civility. At first keeping their enemy status firmly intact through minor acts of sabotage - a sneaky trick here, a stolen object there - the viewer soon realises that murder is not on either's agenda. No man is an island, they say, we all need the company of others to survive, and childlike loathing soon turns into co-operative appreciation.

Like a more accessible Terrence Malick film, the film relies on visual actions and the sounds of nature to help tell the story of humanity putting aside personal vendettas for the greater good. Both Marvin and Mifune give compelling physical performances - their characters are likeable with nary a word spoken between them - and virtuosic cinematographer Conrad Hall juxtaposes their slender roles with beautiful shots of Palau that offer more than any sound could.