1956 | Japan | Fiction

Biruma no tategoto (The Burmese Harp)

  • Japanese, Burmese English 116 mins
  • Director | Kon Ichikawa
  • Writer | Natto Wada
  • Producer | Masayuki Takagi

STATUS: Released

This film is currently not available.   

An Imperial Japanese Army regiment surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close of World War II and finds harmony through song. A private, thought to be dead, disguises himself as a Buddhist monk and stumbles upon spiritual enlightenment. Magnificently shot in hushed black and white, Kon Ichikawa’s The Burmese Harp is an eloquent meditation on beauty coexisting with death and remains one of Japanese cinema’s most overwhelming antiwar sentiments, both tender and brutal in its grappling with Japan’s wartime legacy.

War Redemption Compassion Spirituality Loss
Film Organizations
The Criterion Collection
DISTRIBUTION