Burmese Harp ( ビ ル マ の 竪琴 Biruma no tategoto ) - a film , a Japanese drama by Kon Ichikawa of 1956 based on the novel of the same name by Michio Takeeyama .
| Burmese harp | |
|---|---|
| ビ ル マ の 竪琴 / Biruma no tategoto | |
 | |
| Genre | drama military |
| Producer | Kon Ichikawa |
| Producer | Masayuki Takagi |
| Author script | Natto Wada Michio Takeeyama (novel) |
| In the main cast | Rentaro Mikuni Shoji Yasui |
| Operator | Minoru Yokoyama |
| Composer | Akira Ifukube |
| Film company | Nikkatsu |
| Duration | 116 minutes 143 minutes (original version) |
| A country |  Japan |
| Tongue | |
| Year | 1956 |
| IMDb | ID 0049012 |
The picture won two prizes at the Venice Film Festival (1956) and the Mainity Prize (1957).
Story
Burmese campaign of World War II . Private first-class Mizushima from Captain Inoue’s squad learned to play the sound, Burmese harp, and now they sing in the squad to the sound to raise morale. Hiding in the village, the detachment realizes that it is surrounded by British troops. They are informed that Japan surrendered, and the detachment surrenders. The captain asks Mizushima to go to the mountains to persuade the still-fighting group of soldiers to surrender. The British give Mizushima half an hour for negotiations that lead to nothing - the soldiers decide to fight to the end. Mizushima is about to ask for more time and is making a white flag. The soldiers, thinking that he decided to surrender on their behalf, beat him and left him unconscious on the floor of the cave. British artillery opens fire, from which all die, except Mizushima, who remained in the cave. Exited by a Burmese monk, Mizushima, in monastic attire, wanders in search of a camp where his unit is held. Meeting many killed on the way, he decides to help bury them and pray for the repose of their souls.
Meanwhile, Captain Inoue buys from a local old woman who brought them food in exchange for various items, a parrot and learns his phrase: “Mizushima, let's return to Japan together!” The soldiers ask the old woman to transfer the parrot to a visiting monk in whom they recognize Mizushima. Later, the old woman brings to the detachment another parrot, transmitted by the monk. This bird repeats the phrase: “I can’t return!” With a parrot, the captain is given a long letter in which Mizushima writes that he cannot return, because he must bury the dead and pray for peace on earth. The captain read this letter to the soldiers only on the ship in which they are being transported to their homeland - to Japan.
Cast
- Rentaro Mikuni - Captain Inoue
- Shoji Yasui - Mizushima
- Jun Hamamura - Ito
- Taketoshi Naito - Kobayashi
- Shunji Kosuga - Maki
- Ko Nishimura - Baba
- Tanie Kitabayashi - Old Woman
- Tomio Aoki - Oyama
Links
- Burmese Harp on the Internet Movie Database (Retrieved April 25, 2012)
- Burmese Harp on Rotten Tomatoes (Retrieved April 25, 2012)
- Burmese harp (English) on allmovie (Retrieved April 25, 2012)