The Burmese Harp tells the story of a Japanese regiment on a mission in Burma fighting against the British during World War Two. One of the soldiers, Mizushima, is employed as a scout to look out for British enemies in the jungle/forest. He plays a harp for the purpose of lifting morale of the soldiers. The other purpose of the harp is to signal to the soldiers if the British are nearby, or if it is clear to continue on. When they reach a Burmese village, the Japanese regiment seeks refuge in an empty house. At night they hear a British army singing a hymn, and the harpist plays the exact melody to the song they're singing, in order to ward off the British suspicion that they're nearby. Mizushima leaves so that he will meet again with the regiment in Mudon, Burma. The regiment surrenders (because Japan surrenders at this time in the war) and Mizushima is left by himself. After a fatal battle leaving many Japanese dead, Mizushima becomes a monk who is driven to a peaceful lifestyle, tending to the war dead, and believing that war is never the answer to ending conflict.
Masculinity plays a role in this film; there are clear opposing aspects to the Japanese army itself. The regiment we initially follow is calm, yet resolute in their honorable duties. During the cave scene, when Mizushima (the harpist) is told by the British to force the Japanese holdout in the cave to surrender within 30 minutes (because WWII has ended and the Japanese surrendered), we see a more vigilant perspective from the warring Japanese soldiers. They are defiant and disobey the act of surrendering. This is the first time we hear the theme of the film: in response to the act of dying for country and nationalistic views, Mizushima responds by saying that it is a useless ideology; that dying for your own country is meaningless (it's better to surrender and survive). This furthers the point that war is meaningless. There is also a misinterpretation happening when Mizushima is waving a surrender flag to the British, but the cave is bombarded because the time limit was up.
A subtle message of The Burmese Harp is to visualize the role of a Japanese soldier who is transfixed by spiritual enlightenment. After Mizushima roles out of the cave after it was bombed, a Buddhist monk discovers him lying there. The harpist looks around at all of the dead Japanese and realizes throughout the film that he must stay in Burma to comfort the dead (he buries them after the bombardment). This is key in terms of coming to closure about the war and how irreparable a war's damage is to a person's psyche. Mizushima is sorrowful and becomes a new person. He sees himself as separated from the regiment, and has started a new life beyond his expectations, which is an unpredictable plot point in the film.
The film is powerful because of the inner display of the individual and his inner peace in the milieu of war and chaos. There is wise attention paid to the abrasion between Mizushima's belief and new lifestyle when contrasted with the role of Captain Inoye. This is where dramatic irony comes into play. The Captain wants to reunite with the harpist in Japan so that they can continue to live life happily. They seek the help of an old lady to get information about Mizushima's whereabouts (they trade goods with her while the regiment is in captivity in Mudon). The Captain buys a parrot, and trains the parrot to say a phrase "Mizushima, let's go back to Japan together!" and gives the parrot to the lady, so that the harpist will receive it and get the message. But no matter how resolute the regiment (especially the Captain) is in reuniting with the harpist, nothing can sway Mizushima to rejoin his regiment. He can never go back to being a soldier. The reading of the harpist's letter on the boat by Inoye is a clear "telling" of how their paths have separated.
Another scene that illustrates the indifference of Mizushima from the regiment is when they pass each other on the bridge. They cross paths but don't speak or utter any words. The Captain is sure it was the identity of Mizushima, but it's already been too late for the harpist to change his ways, for he has become a stalwart Buddhist monk with a pacifist ideology.
Bryan's reaction:
Director Kon Ichikawa makes a bold statement in this film. Parts are subtle, other parts aren’t so subtle, but it's clear that Ichikawa wants us to know his perspective of the Pacific side of WWII. What struck me as an example of the boldness in this film was his take on the masculinity of Mizushima’s company. It isn’t represented in the traditional sense. Which also brought up a question in my mind, do we REALLY know how a Japanese soldier FELT about the war or their role in it? In most films involving a culture like Japan’s, we hear things about honor, courage, sacrifice, and duty for country. In The Burmese Harp, we see battle weary soldiers in Burma who sing and play music to lift their spirits. I’ve spent 10 years in the military. I never saw battle or was "in the trenches”, but we never sang to lift our spirits or morale. Not saying it is a bad thing, but that it is not what you would normally assume a company of soldiers would do. Maybe Ichikawa was TRYING to show us this side of Japan. Maybe he was trying to say, “HEY, we’re not a bunch of patriotic, kamikaze, victory or death types. We have a soul. We were affected by this conflict just as everyone was.” Ichikawa does show the traditional side of masculinity and the conflict that arises when opposing viewpoints come to a head.
To be quite honest, this film would not be on the top of my “Must Watch” list. That being said, The Burmese Harp did grow on me as the film went on. What caught my attention immediately was how well the film is made from a technical perspective. From this standpoint, the film was ahead of its time in terms of camera techniques (dolly shots), editing, pacing, and even the opening titles. Now I was paying attention. The characters and story finally took hold and guided me through a time and place I had no clue about previously. As I sit and write up this analysis, I realize now how many themes and ideas are pouring out of this film. Some of the themes or ideas are subtle, such as a newly realized idea of harmony – which is both represented figuratively and literally. Others, such as dying for country/war is meaningless, are more obvious and are literally said by our main character.
Again, to be honest, I wasn’t really sure if I even liked the film after the fade to black. The more I am forced to analyze this piece and look at all the angles, the more I’ve grown fond of it, not just as a technical achievement, but also on the multitude of levels the film transcends. Just when you think this movie hasn’t spoken to you, it suddenly yells in your face.
Mark's reaction:
The plot takes an unexpected, unpredictable turn; we are forced to look at the characters we first see, and to break them apart in terms of their need. There is an immediate dramatic tension in the middle when we see that Mizushima and the regiments' paths have become separated; the harpist is a nomadic monk wandering the land, and the regiment is left to return home and desiring being in their homeland safely. The monk has chosen a life that is wrapped in peace and theory, while the regiment is just happy to be alive. According to the voiceover in the beginning, the monk has an emotional connotation: "The soil of Burma is red, and so are its rocks." This is a conveyance of inner turmoil and sorrow from Mizushima, an indication that war has spun havoc which cannot be undone.
Related film for Mark:
I was reminded of the film Runaway Train (1985), an American thriller (directed by Andrei Konchalovsky) about two prison inmates who escape an Alaskan prison and hop on a train which is headed towards an undeveloped track and eventual wreck. The character arc of Jon Voight's Manny is similar to Mizushima, because the man has become so involved in his own resolute belief to be free; freedom from war, strife, imprisonment. One could interpret the harpist as fleeing from the chains of being a soldier, just how Manny is physically free from the bars that once surrounded him. The power of both of these films illustrates the intensity of the inner state of the main character that the supporting characters don't realize, or can't realize.
Runaway Train is a screenplay adapted from an even earlier original screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, a prolific Japanese film director. The fact that Kurosawa wrote this indicates a similar Japanese way of thinking to Ichikawa's film, which both films explore: "a peace of mind" or inner closure.
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| Captain Inoye with Parrot |
Related film for Bryan:
Although the film The Last Samurai (2003) was critically viewed as somewhat of a failure, and often a butt of many jokes involving Tom Cruise, it does have its’ merits. Cruise's character comes from a different world, a different culture. He has seen far too much war in his day. He is changed and reborn into the new culture he adopts as his own, the way of the samurai, and comes to befriend the Ken Watanabe character. In many respects, this is quite similar to what our main character Mizushima does in The Burmese Harp. He is a war torn veteran from Japan. He’s seen his share of death and battle. One final act of war is too much for him and he is introduced to the world of the Monk in Burma. He adopts this culture and therefore is spiritually reborn. For both of these characters, whether you like Tom Cruise as a samurai or not, adopting these new cultures is a way for them to bring closure to their weary war minds and perhaps bring a sense of peace as well.
Clip to show to class: (1:37:30 to 1:43:00)
Near the end, when the regiment is aware they will leave the POW camp in Mudon in three days time, Mizushima shows up outside the camp's fence, where the regiment gathers to watch him and the little kid play harp as a farewell.
Check out the trailer for The Burmese Harp on the Criterion Collection website:
Sources:
The Burmese Harp. 1956. Dir. Kon Ichikawa. The Criterion Collection DVD.
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