Filming for Peace: The Burmese Harp (1956)

Leading film critic and writer Tim Robey, pictured here, was asked to choose the ten best anti-war films, and kindly offered a list, not in any particular order. 

‘There are some obvious ones I've left off (e.g. Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket) but I thought you might want to direct people towards fresh discoveries,’ he told us. ‘These are all pretty amazing films in my opinion.’   

Here’s the first: The Burmese Harp (1956), noted as among the first films to show the losses of the war from a Japanese soldier's perspective. Directed by Kon Ichikawa, and based on a children's novel of the same name written by Michio Takeyama, it tells the story of Japanese soldiers who fought in the Burma Campaign during World War II.  

When a Japanese platoon surrenders to British forces in Burma in 1943, the platoon's harp player, Mizushima, is selected from the prisoners of war to deliver a request for surrender to a Japanese regiment holed up on a mountain. Mizushima fails to convince the soldiers to accept defeat, and a last stand commences. 

Traumatized by the bloodshed of his fellow countrymen, Mizushima disguises himself as a Buddhist monk and begins a journey toward peace of mind amid the chaos. You can read more about the film by clicking on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burmese_Harp_(1956_film)

Tim Robey was born in Hertfordshire in 1978 and educated at Beechwood Park School, Oundle and Oxford University, where he read classics. Since 2000 he has reviewed films, written features and conducted interviews for the Daily Telegraph's arts pages. He appears regularly on Radio 4's Front Row and Monocle FM Radio, contributed to R4's now-defunct Film Programme, and appeared as a sofa guest on BBC Film 2015-2017. He gave Cats zero stars, but has now seen it four times.

1956 poster of The Burmese Harp by Nikkatsu

If you are interested in the history of early America, and Roger Conant as a peacemaker in troubled times you can join the Devon Peacemaker Festival Facebook group at 

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