28 Oct 2018

Reel Classics: The Burmese Harp (1956)

Reel Classics: The Burmese Harp (1956)

28 October, 1pm

Reel McCoy Film Society presents bi-monthly film screenings of classic cinema.

Members are invited to purchase an annual Reel McCoy membership at the discounted price of $20 (usually $50/year) upon presentation of their current ACT M&G membership card.


THE BURMESE HARP (1956)

116 MINUTES, JAPAN
DIRECTOR: KON ICHIKAWA
CAST: RENTARÔ MIKUNI, SHÔJI YASUI, JUN HAMAMURA

It’s 1945, the very end of WW2, and one Japanese soldier stationed in Burma is deeply affected by his inability to persuade a group of his compatriots to surrender to the British, rather than be killed. He flees the army, disguises himself as a monk—and then becomes what he disguised himself as. Kon Ichikawa, a director with a legendarily long career (his first feature was in 1947, his last in 2006) took a screenplay co-written by his wife, Natto Wada, and somehow made a film about wartime horrors that is also unaffectedly gentle and warm.

Reel Classics: The Burmese Harp (1956)

28 October, 1pm