Saagar Kote
‘Monster Island’ is a horror drama film that follows the tale of a supposedly traitorous Japanese soldier named Saito and a British soldier named Bronson who are both prisoners of war on a Japanese ship during the Second World War. The two men find themselves stuck on an isolated island as a deadly monster called Orang Ikan intends to kill them. The narrative deals with the ideas of violence, the identity of monsters, friendship in the face of adversity, bravery, and survival. As the storyline reaches its ending, Saito and Bronson realize that they are in a dangerous position and attempt to go beyond their physical and mental capabilities to survive the attack of Orang Ikan. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Monster Island Plot Synopsis
The narrative begins in Arian Maru in 1944, with two prisoners of war on a “hell ship,” which is a ship used by the Japanese forces to torture and transport prisoners of war during the Second World War. The so-called traitorous prisoner, Saito, and an English prisoner, Bronson, escape the hell ship due to a vicious torpedo attack by the Allied forces. The two men swim towards an isolated island, without knowing each other’s identity, and bound by a chain link to their feet. They begin to feel that a strange entity is stalking them from the water, and Saito saves Bronson from the creature before it attacks him.
As Saito attempts to shoot himself (Harakiri), Bronson stops him and saves his life. Despite belonging to opposing camps in the war, and not following a word of each other’s languages, the men surprisingly begin to form a bond, lighting a fire and eating roasted crabs. Bronson begins to wonder why Saito was imprisoned by his own people. The two cut each other’s chain links off and realize that the mysterious entity from earlier is still stalking them. As they see two other Japanese soldiers escorting a prisoner onto the island, Saito signals Bronson to hide. The two other surviving soldiers of the torpedo attack are befriended by Saito, but eventually realize that he was a traitorous prisoner, and try to execute him.
As they are about to murder Saito, they hear a guttural sound, hearing which the other prisoner held by the two soldiers says is the sound of a monster called “Orang Ikan.” As one of the goes deeper into the forest to learn more, he is brutally killed by Orang Ikan, which severs his head. Bronson enters the situation and impales the other soldier holding Saito captive. As Orang Ikan chases them, the two unlikely friends start to run for their lives, which takes them deeper into the heart of the island. Saito once again saves Bronson from the creature, and the two roll down a hill in an attempt to escape the raging monster. As dawn arrives, the two men wake up in different spots on the island and try not only to find each other again, but also save themselves from the rage of Orang Ikan, which is hellbent on destruction.
Monster Island Ending: How Does Saito Survive? Why Doesn’t He Kill Orang Ikan?
After recovering a bomb from a crashed Allied fighter plane, Saito and Bronson find a cave within the island that houses the egg of Orang Ikan, which contains its unborn child. As they bring the weapon closer to the egg, they are attacked by the monster, which tries to save its child. Saito saves Bronson by stabbing Orang Ikan in the back, but not before it gravely injures the British soldier. The Japanese soldier shoots Orang Ikan in the eye and later fires at the egg, killing the unborn creature. Bronson realizes that he is injured beyond saving and asks his friend to abandon him and save his own life.
In an ultimate act of sacrifice, Bronson blows up the bomb within the cave, allowing Saito to swim across the water. However, Saito realizes that Orang Ikan is still alive and is coming to kill him. He runs to the beach and waits for his moment of reckoning. As the monster reaches the shore, Saito emerges from the ground, having hidden himself under the sand. In a courageous act, he faces Orang Ikan alone and slices its body with a Katana (sword), causing it to fall down. However, he chooses not to kill the monster, choosing to let it go instead. Orang Ikan gratefully runs away, thanking Saito in its own way.
Saito walks up to the shore and tries to fire flares to see if anyone comes to his rescue. However, the gun doesn’t fire, stranding him on the island further. A year later, in 1945, Saito is saved by an American ship called the “USS Fletcher, “ which presumably found him in need of rescue. It can also be assumed that due to his survival skills and resourceful nature, Saito managed to stay alive on the island, despite all the hardships. Due to his experiences, he probably found the will to live again and fight for his life, despite being alone on an isolated island. Saito breathes freely aboard his rescue ship and continues to live his life.
As to the reasons behind him not killing Orang Ikan, he realized that Orang Ikan was simply trying to save its child from danger, and didn’t intend to kill anyone randomly. It saw humans as a threat to its island and to the safety of its kind. In a pivotal scene before the incident at the cave, Saito spots a dead Orang Ikan, killed by a soldier, and realizes that, like humans, Orang Ikan also wanted to fight for survival. Presumably due to his strong religious values and a sense of righteousness linked to Samurai culture, he chose not to kill another creature, which wasn’t violent without a reason.
Is Orang Ikan Alive? Will it Kill People Again?
Orang Ikan tries to kill Saito, Bronson, and all the other human beings it comes into contact with. Its primary objective behind the brutality is revealed to be the protection of its unhatched child, and not a random act of destruction. At the very end of the narrative, it is revealed that the monster is still alive and has recovered from its injuries, waiting to strike any other human being who sets foot on the island it calls home. After being spared by Saito, Orang Ikan presumably managed to heal itself from the battle scars sustained during the fight against Bronson and Saito, and became a powerful creature again.
As an apex predator, Orang Ikan utilized its evolutionary advantage to recover and become a threat again. It can be safely presumed that the monster will kill more people in the future if they dare enter the island. Despite losing its child, Orang Ikan will probably try to give birth to another child and continue its bloodline. In order to keep its child safe, it will most definitely go back to killing people again. The hostile island also makes it impossible for Orang Ikan to survive without killing. In a pivotal scene from an earlier part of the narrative, a crocodile tries to brutally attack the monster, but Orang Ikan rips it to shreds.
The island is still a very hostile place and will possibly remain so, which will force Orang Ikan to survive with violence. If human beings understand their boundaries and prove that they are not a threat, they will probably find mercy from the creature, but it’s highly unlikely, and the monster will certainly not stop seeing humanity as a threat, which will only lead to killings again. The Darwinian evolutionary principle of “survival of the fittest” will bring Orang Ikan closer to violence against others and lead to the murders of many more people, despite being spared by Saito’s act of kindness and mercy earlier.
Why Did Saito Say That Bronson Was His Friend?
Saito and Brosnan are two extremely different individuals who become unlikely companions on the mysterious island. They start off by trying to kill each other, but are bound by a chain linking their feet. Saito saves Bronson from being killed by Orang Ikan, and later the British soldier prevents his companion from shooting himself in an act of Harakiri (honor suicide in Japanese culture, linked to the morality of the Samurai warriors). As the two realize that they are not enemies, they begin to form a bond, transcending linguistic and political barriers during a time of war.
Saito cooks crabs for Bronson, and Bronson offers cigarettes to his new friend, who refuses to smoke. They cut each other’s chain links off and then go on a dangerous adventure of fighting Orang Ikan. After Bronson sacrifices his own life for the sake of his new friend in the cave, Saito survives and, a year later, finds himself aboard the USS Fletcher. A translator hired by a US officer proceeds to ask Saito about Bronson. Saito is offered a cigarette by the US naval officer and starts looking out at the island. Due to the cigarettes, his mind goes back to the fond memories he made with his unlikely British partner. He remembers Bronson being fond of cigarettes and accepts one given by the officer.
Despite not being a smoker, as established earlier in the film, he proceeds to smoke the cigarette, presumably to honor the memory of his friend. He starts reminiscing about every meaningful moment he had with the British man, and begins to realize that they weren’t just two men trying to survive an ordeal, but friends who understood each other despite not speaking the same language, and representing opposite sides of the Second World War. In the most poignant moment of the film, Saito emotionally describes Bronson as a “friend,” which shows that friendship and genuine human connection can be found even while facing death and war. The friendship between two men is the emotional core of the narrative set in a time of war, which makes the film more relevant and meaningful.
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