Burmese Harp, the DVD – Jun Hamamura, Shôji Yasui

A rhapsodic celebration of song a brutal condemnation of wartime mentality and a lyrical statement of hope within darkness; even amongst the riches of 1950s’ Japanese cinema The Burmese Harp directed by Kon Ichikawa (Alone Across the Pacific Tokyo Olympiad) stands as one of the finest achievements of its era. At the close of World War II a Japanese army regiment in Burma surrenders to the British. Private Mizushima is sent on a lone mission to persuade a trapped Japanese battalion to surrender also. When the outcome is a failure he disguises himself in the robes of a Buddhist monk in hope of temporary anonymity as he journeys across the landscape – but he underestimates the power of his assumed role. A visually extraordinary and deeply moving vision of horror necessity and redemption in the aftermath of war Ichikawa’s breakthrough film is one of the great humanitarian affirmations of the cinema.