Antarctica (Japanese: 南極物語, "Nankyoku Monogatari", literally "South Pole Story") is a 1983 Japanese drama film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara, starring Ken Takakura, Tsunehiko Watase, Eiji Okada, Masako Natsume, Keiko Oginome, Takeshi Kusaka, and So Yamamura. The score was composed by Vangelis. The film is based on the true story of the ill-fated 1958 Japanese Antarctic expedition and the improbable survival of sled dogs Taro and Jiro.
The film was a hit with both critics and audiences, being nominated for four Japan Academy Awards and earning over ¥11 billion (approximately $75 million) in ticket sales, a record that held for fourteen years until being surpassed by Princess Mononoke. It was selected as Japan's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 56th Academy Awards, but was ultimately not accepted as a nominee.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: Akira and Kenjiro return to the base after eleven months, where they find the frozen corpses of seven of the dogs the other eight missing. Suddenly, they are greeted warmly by Taro and Jiro, the sole survivors of the original sled team.
- Foreign Remake: The film received an American remake in 2006, Eight Below, which adapts the events more loosely and
was dedicated to the memory of Koreyoshi Kurahara, who died in 2002. - Riddle for the Ages: It is still unknown how and why Taro and Jiro survived, given that the average husky can only survive in such an environment for about a month at most. For the purpose of the film, the director used what little information was available, along with his imagination, to reconstruct how such a survival could have been possible.
- River of Insanity: Taro and Jiro survive by themselves for one full year in Antarctica and instantly recognize their masters Akira and Kenjiro when they come back.