Kon Ichikawa: The Burmese Harp

This is what MUBI says:

A Imperial Japanese Army regiment surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close of World War II, while a private thought to be dead disguises himself as a Buddhist monk.

Magnificently shot in hushed black and white, The Burmese Harp is an eloquent meditation on the coexistence of beauty and death, and remains a highlight of Japanese cinema’s golden age. A masterpiece—in the 50 years since, war movies haven’t been more tender or shattering.

A very simple tale told in what seems a very simple way; washing over you like a warm sea. It all seems so obvious with seemingly no need for explanation or elaboration; as passive or inscrutable as a Buddhist monk can be. And then as we approach the end and it is time for the soldiers to return to their homeland, huge waves of emotion roll by and the profundity of what you have just witnessed is realised in all the depth and complexity of the human condition. If that were all, we could have chatted about it afterwards but the emotional strength is yet too strong and too fresh - its too soon and before you know it, this film has sown seeds in your soul that day by day shed a little more light in the darkness.

Fabulous is a seriously inappropriate word to describe this film; we need a different scale to measure this one.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥