The Burmese Harp
AroView: A revered anti-war elegy conceived during Japan’s post-WWII recovery that tells the journey of a Japanese private who, upon escaping slaughter and disguising himself as a Buddist monk, comes to terms with death through spiritual enlightenment.
A moving plea for passivity and an end to violence, Ichikawa’s direction is appropriately whispered, dignified, and characterized visually by majestic use of black and white.
