Kon Ichikawa's Haunting and Poetic THE BURMESE HARP | New 4K Restoration | Opens in NY October 18

Source: Janus Films press release
Special Thanks to Courtney Ott

Janus Films presents a new 4K restoration of the Nikkatsu classic antiwar film THE BURMESE HARP (ビルマの竪琴, Biruma no Tategoto, 1956). The movie will play October 18-24 at the Film Forum in New York and is available for bookings nationwide.

In the last days of World War II, a Japanese platoon sustains morale through the Burma campaign by singing traditional songs, accompanied by the delicate harp-playing of Private Mizushima (Shoji Yasui). After the unit surrenders to British forces, Mizushima is tasked with convincing a holdout of cave-dwelling Japanese soldiers to lay down their arms; when his mission fails, he is counted among the dead. Mizushima survives, however, and becomes a monk who dedicates his life to providing proper burials for his fallen comrades. Meanwhile, his former platoon attempts to track him down by using music to express a shared sense of separation and longing for home.

Adapted from Michio Takeyama’s classic novel, and renowned for legendary composer Akira Ifukube’s haunting score, Kon Ichikawa’s THE BURMESE HARP is an epic humanist masterpiece—a profound contemplation of suffering, redemption, and spiritual fortitude during the darkest periods of violence.

Restored by Nikkatsu and The Japan Foundation, undertaken by Imagica Entertainment Services Inc.

4K DCP RESTORATION

Japan, 1956
Directed by Kon Ichikawa
Screenplay by Natto Wada
Starring Rentarô Mikuni, Shôji Yasui, Jun Hamamura
Music by Akira Ifukube
Approx. 116 min. DCP.

About the Janus Films

Founded in 1956, Janus Films was the first theatrical distribution company dedicated to bringing international art-house films to U.S. audiences. Janus handles rights in all media to an extensive library that ranges from classics by Michelangelo Antonioni, Věra Chytilová, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Ousmane Sembène, and Agnès Varda to major works by contemporary masters like Jim Jarmusch, Lucrecia Martel, and Wong Kar Wai. Its recent releases have included a record-breaking retrospective of the films of Edward Yang, as well as contemporary titles including Hlynur Pálmason’s GODLAND and RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: OPUS. Janus Films partnered with Sideshow in 2021 on the release of Academy Award winner DRIVE MY CAR, and Academy Award®nominee EO from director Jerzy Skolimowski. Currently with Sideshow, they have Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s EVIL DOES NOT EXIST and Catherine Breillat's LAST SUMMER.