Kon Ichikawa’s postwar drama looks wistfully at the Japan that WAS before World War II, suspiciously at the Japan that would be rebuilt, and begs consideration of the legitimacy of either. Retreating through Burma during World War II, Private Mizushima (Shoji Yasui) discovers his gift for the harp (saung) just before Japan surrenders. Captain Inouye (Rentarō Mikuni) tasks the young soldier with delivering the news to Japanese soldiers still fighting in the mountains.
Unsuccessful, Mizushima comes back down the mountain changed, living as a monk among the Burmese while his countrymen await departure in a POW camp in the same village. Mizushima pledges to bury the Japanese littering the countryside, unable to move past the horrible evidence of senseless death. His company pledges to bring him back home, unable to imagine the new Japan without all of their countrymen in tow.
This episode features more discussion of the THE LORD OF THE RINGS series (2001–2003) than you might imagine. It’s not much, but it’s more than you’d think.
References:
#KonIchikawaUndertheFlagoftheRisingSun #DCP
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Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro from THE BURMESE HARP.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 329: THE BURMESE HARP (1956)
2:11 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
3:54 - Our top-level thoughts of THE BURMESE HARP
14:23 - Triangle Mountain and what it does for Mizushima
29:03 - Why Mizushima as the mediator here?
48:26 - The Japan that was and the Japan that will never be
51:58 - Cinematography
1:06:10 - The Junk Drawer
1:11:46 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1956
1:14:11 - Cody’s Noteys: Harp-e Diem (harp trivia)
