Plot: Life is brutally harsh in the Japanese camps, as in one in Burma where POW's, mainly from a Scottish regiment, must build part of the enemy's supply railroad trough the ever-inhospitable jungle, and not just in terms of poor conditions, but also brutal discipline under a bushido logic which assumes Westerners to be an inferior race, in need of doggish discipline, while even for Japanese troops and Korean auxiliaries severe corporal punishment always looms. The POWs realize respect is the key, and earn some from the camp staff by taking efficient charge of the engineering challenge, and self-respect furthermore by mounting a Shakespeare play and a 'jungle university'. Still a violent escape attempt is made, not without punishment and gruesome twist, and again as the fortune of war turns the tables...
Alternative Plot: Based on a real-life story, this drama focuses on a small group of Allied soldiers in Burma who are held captive by the Japanese. Capt. Ernest Gordon (Ciaran McMenamin), Lt. Jim Reardon (Kiefer Sutherland) and Maj. Ian Campbell (Robert Carlyle) are among the military officers kept imprisoned and routinely beaten and deprived of food. While Campbell wants to rebel and attempt an escape, Gordon tries to take a more stoic approach, an attitude that proves to be surprisingly resonant.
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