Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Jackson Booth-Millard I found this Japanese film in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, I was hoping it would be another foreign film I would never have found otherwise and was enjoyable, directed by Kon Ichikawa (An Actor's Revenge, Tokyo Olympiad). Basically, set during the Second World War, Japanese soldier Private Mizushima (Shôji Yasui) is the harp player in a group composed by Captain Inouye (Rentarô Mikuni) who raise morale for the Burma Campaign by fighting and singing. They are offering shelter in a village, eventually realising that British soldiers are watching them, with their ammunition retrieved and the forces advancing, Captain Inouye tells the men to sing, laugh and clap to trick the British into believing they are unaware of their presence, the British soldiers do not fire, they sing along, the war has ended, and the Japanese surrender to the British. As Australian captain at a camp asks Mizushima to talk down a group of soldiers still fighting on a mountain, he agrees and has 30 minutes to convince them to surrender, he is almost shot by them before they realise he is Japanese, he climbs up and informs the Defense Commander (Tatsuya Mihashi) the war is over and to surrender. But after conferring with their commander, they decide to fight to the end, even after Mizushima begs them, he asks the Australians for more time, but him creating a surrender flag is taken the wrong way and they believe he is surrendering for them, he is beaten unconscious and left on the floor, he is the only survivor following a bombardment. An Old Monk (Eiji Nakamura) helps Mizushima to recovering from his injuries, one day he steals the monk's robe and shaves his head so he will not be spotted by a soldier, he journeys to the camp where his comrades were sent, but he finds many Japanese soldiers dead on the way, he buries them. Captain Inouye and his men cling on to the belief that Mizushima is still alive, eventually the buy a parrot to speak a phrase with Mizushima's name, and an Old Woman villager (Tanie Kitabayashi) takes it to a monk they suspect is actually Mizushima in hiding, she returns with another parrot with a reply rejection phrase. The old woman also gives the captain a letter, saying that Mizushima has decided not to go back with them to Japan, because he continues to bury the dead, while studying as a monk and promoting the peaceful nature of mankind, but he states when he has finished burying the fallen soldiers, he may return to Japan. Also starring Yûnosuke Itô as Village head. I was just about able to follow the story, about the young musician/harpist renouncing his homeland to remain in Burma as a Buddhist monk during World War II, sincerity does occasionally turn into sentimentality, but there are good military and musical scenes, and more than anything this epic film has great landscapes that accompany the great music, an interesting war drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Very good!

lreynaert In this masterful antiwar movie Kon Ichikawa uses the big emotional impact of music and singing. It goes straight to the heart of the spectator.The soil of Burma is red with blood of fallen Japanese soldiers. Nobody is there to bury their corpses decently, until one soldier, disguised as a Buddhist monk, takes the herculean task on his shoulders. Kon Ishikawa asks in his movie: 'why must the world suffer such misery?' But, the example of one soldier who survived the onslaught, gives the devastated world a glimmer of hope. Indeed, 'our work is simply to ease the great suffering of the world.'In one of the extras, the actor Rentano Mikuni reveals that bayonet drills in the Japanese army were 'performed' on living prisoners of war! This movie is a real masterpiece. A must see, also the extras.

Cinemadharma At the end of WWII, a Japanese platoon is stationed in the jungles of Burma, who have impressive singing skills inspired by their star musician, Private Mizushima...and his harp. Mizushima becomes separated from his company and is presumed dead. Stealing the robes from a Buddhist monk who saves his life, he disguises himself to avoid suspicion as he goes in search of the British prison camp where his platoon awaits repatriation, but is unprepared for the new perspective the stolen robes provide. The initial selfish act of theft contain the seeds of the thief's selfless future. Mizushima's spiritual transformation from a fake monk, thief and soldier of war to that of a genuine bodhisattva warrior (a peaceful 'warrior' of wisdom, compassion and generosity) is reflected in a wonderful and unforgettable scene where his platoon assembles for choral practice in front of a large reclining Buddha statue. As the platoon begins to sing, they are baffled by the mysterious and beautiful harp accompaniment that seems to emanate from inside the body of the Buddha statue, where unknown to the platoon, Mizushima, who is thought to be dead, has taken refuge... and has himself become an instrument of peace.

chaos-rampant A lesson on how NOT to make a picture by one of the most celebrated Japanese directors of all time. I have no other way of explaining the ignominious debacle that is THE BURMESE HARP. This must be Ichikawa's 110 minute masterclass on how NOT to create a story. And it's genius for that.The basis of HARP's story is another return on the widely traveled path of the Hero's Journey. The mentor, the death and resurrection of the hero, the gift he returns with from the other world to bestow upon the world, everything the respectable Joseph Campbell taught can be found here.Where the movie falters is in substituting true dramaturgy and character motivation for saccharine sentimentality. Ichikawa goes straight for the jugular, his intentions to force the drama upon the viewer's emotions instead of letting it derive naturally from the premise and the character orchestration. Conflict, the most surefooted and ancient root in the heart of all storytelling, is forced via jumps in logic or simply produced on demand when the movie requires it.After a decent first 40 minutes and an almost excellent following 30 minutes, the movie proceeds to foreshadow its calamitous conclusion by turning the protagonist, a Japanese soldier turned Buddhist monk, into a sulking child. On his way back from a mission from which he barely survived he has the opportunity to witness the ravages of war firsthand. He returns to the previously appointed gathering point for the surrendered Japanese troops a changed man. Instead of rejoining his platoon to wait for their shipping back to Japan, he runs off and hides from them. His platoon spends the rest of the movie looking out for him, cajoling him and singing when the opportunity provides. Which is pretty darn often.Why did the private run off? Something to do with the harrowing images of unburied Japanese soldiers he saw on his way we understand. Let us make a small jump in logic and assume this is the first time a soldier engaged in war comes across such horrors. What is the specific character motivation that turns him into a sulking child? We never know. Ichikawa probably doesn't either as he has the platoon break out in song every 10 minutes until the final 5 minutes of the movie where he remembers he somehow needs to explain the protagonist's irrational behaviour. At which point the sergeant produces a very convenient letter written by the private, where in, what essentially amounts to little more than a voice-over narration, we are "told" a bunch of utterly vapid and bland clichés regarding "peace", "courage" and "easing the suffering of others".All great ideas to be sure but for the love of god man!! You can't tell us these things, we know already. You have to show, invoke the images and character actions that will enable us to arrive at those selfsame conclusions. Something Ichikawa himself did with the harrowing and soul-destroying FIRES ON THE PLAIN a couple of years later. Stacked against that monumental war drama, The Burmese Harp is feeble and puny, an elegiac ode on humanism that lacks the power of conviction.The black and white cinematography is great, it is after all a visual master of Ichikawa's calibre we're talking about. Is it surprising then that the most gripping sequence of the film is almost entirely silent? Ichikawa delivered his masterpiece with Fires on the Plain and with The Burmese Harp he shows how NOT to make a movie. What else could be expected of any director?