In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.
Cinematography
Stunning black-and-white landscapes that dwarf human suffering.
Score
The harp itself—diegetic music that becomes the film's conscience.
Direction
Ichikawa's restraint makes devastation hit harder.
Director
Kon Ichikawa
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ichikawa remade his own 1946 film after the original negative was lost—a second meditation on memory and loss.
The film was Japan's submission for Best Foreign Language Film but lost to Fellini's 'La Strada'—a fascinating pairing of two cinema giants wrestling with postwar spiritual crisis.
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