SHOULD I READ IT? The Burmese Harp (1956)

                “The Burmese Harp” is a film by Kon Ichikawa (“Fires on the Plain”).  He also co-wrote it based on a children’s book by Michio Takeyama.  The book was more of a fantasy than the movie.  It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.  The movie was one of the first Japanese films with a pacifist bent.  It was remade by Ichikawa in 1985 and was a big hit.  I have not seen the remake.

                The movie opens in July, 1945 in Burma.  A Japanese company led by Capt. Inouye (Rentaro Mikuni) is retreating across mountains to try to reach Thailand.  One of the soldiers, named Mizushima (Shoji Yasui), plays a harp.  The men are anachronistically healthy, well-dressed, and not exhausted.  (And this is the director of “Fire on the Plain”?)  They stop at a village and the Burmese give them food without any coercion.  How nice of them.  Suddenly, a British column appears.  The Japanese join them in singing “Home Sweet Home” to avoid a firefight.  The Brits inform them that the war has been over for three days.  Mizushima volunteers to talk a more warlike unit into surrendering.  They are holding out in a cave.  The negotiations do not go well as this unit is more typical of the Japanese you find in war movies.  The British are not in a patient mood and Mizushima is lucky to survive in a life changing incident.  He decides to become a monk and bury dead soldier bodies.  His mates want him to return to Japan with them.  They communicate via talking parrot.  Make sure you get the DVD with parrot subtitles.

                “The Burmese Harp” is certainly different.  While not as fantastic as the source novel, it is like a fable in many ways.  If you treat it that way, you will be able to overlook the unrealistic elements of it.  Most of the plot could only have occurred in a children’s book.  I doubt many Japanese veterans recognized the Burma of this movie.  For a much more realistic view (although it is set in the Philippines), watch “Fires on the Plain”.  Ichikawa must have made that movie to balance “The Burmese Harp”.  Another fanciful theme is there is no dysfunction in Mizushima’s unit.  Everyone loves him.  It must be his harp playing.  Or his singing.  The movie has a lot of songs for a war movie.  I counted eight.  Hard core war movie lovers might want to factor that in when they decide whether to watch the movie.  If you don’t like a lot of songs, watch the movie for its creative cinematography.  It is a film school type movie.  You won’t learn about film clichés from it, however.  There is no sinister villain and it is not predictable.  The acting is fine and there is a unique character in the Burmese woman who trades with them and gives them the talking parrot.

                “The Burmese Harp” is not a must-see.  It is a nice little movie and I enjoyed it.  It depends on what you are in a mood for.  It and its evil cousin “Fires on the Plain” pretty much cover the two extremes of moods.  Fable or funereal.  Take your pick.

GRADE  =  B