The Burmese Harp

“Thoroughly engrossing in its humanism and often heartbreakingly beautiful in both tone and image.” – Mountain Express

In the last days of World War II, a Japanese platoon sustains morale through the Burma campaign by singing traditional songs, accompanied by the delicate harp-playing of Private Mizushima (Shoji Yasui). After the unit surrenders to British forces, Mizushima is tasked with convincing a holdout of cave-dwelling Japanese soldiers to lay down their arms; when his mission fails, he is counted among the dead. Mizushima survives, however, and becomes a monk who dedicates his life to providing proper burials for his fallen comrades. Meanwhile, his former platoon attempts to track him down by using music to express a shared sense of separation and longing for home. Adapted from Michio Takeyama’s classic novel, and renowned for legendary composer Akira Ifukube’s haunting score, Kon Ichikawa’s The Burmese Harp is an epic humanist masterpiece—a profound contemplation of suffering, redemption, and spiritual fortitude during the darkest periods of violence.