Southern Cross

Adding the subtitle A True Story for British release doesn't make this any the more convincing. Even though the World War II friendship it resurrects between an earnest young Australian captain, survivor of an abortive raid on Singapore, and one of his Japanese captors, comes to an improbable head by Western standards, it's the inadequate, Boy's Own serial treatment that wrecks the film's credibility. A rambling first half tries to map out the two main characters, but they're swathed in loose ends. While the characters sweat and frown, all efforts to underline the inherent pathos end up as mawkish melodrama, and the film's ironies - the parallels between Eastern and Western notions of heroism and honour - get only a nod in passing.