"Actor: Shôji Yasui"

• The Burmese Harp | Unknown | (15/09/2025) from £31.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Burmese Harp An Imperial Japanese Army regiment surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close of World War II and finds harmony through song. A private, thought to be dead, disguises himself as a Buddhist monk and stumbles upon spiritual enlightenment. Magnificently shot in hushed black and white, Kon Ichikawa's The Burmese Harp is an eloquent meditation on beauty coexisting with death and remains one of Japanese cinema's most overwhelming antiwar sentiments, both tender and brutal in its grappling with Japan's wartime legacy. Japan 1956 116 minutes Black & White 1.37:1 Japanese, Burmese Spine #379 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES: ¢ New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack ¢ One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features ¢ Interviews with director Kon Ichikawa and actor Rentaro Mikuni ¢ Trailer ¢ New English subtitle translation ¢ PLUS: An essay by critic and historian Tony Rayns

• Kokoro (The Heart) | DVD | (23/02/2009) from £23.99   |  Saving you £-4.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Brimful with brooding psychological torment Kokoro is vintage Kon Ichikawa (An Actor's Revenge The Burmese Harp Tokyo Olympiad). Based on a novel by celebrated Japanese author Natsume Soseki the director foregrounds its themes of individual isolation and social estrangement most notably in a central protagonist stricken by existential demons and stranded by changing times. Why does Nobuchi (Masayuki Mori) visit the grave of his old friend Kaji (Tatsuya Mihashi)? Why is he so secretive with his wife Shizu (Michiyo Aratama)? And how does Nobuchi's friendship with the young student Hioki (Shoji Yasui) - for whom the older man acts as reluctant sensei - relate to his time with Kaji? As the Meiji Era draws to a close with the emperor's death and the suicide of General Nogi a fateful tale of tainted love failed friendship and redemptive honour unravels with tragic consequences. Though sometimes overlooked in the director's impressive oeuvre Ichikawa's profoundly beautiful rendering of Soseki's novel is a considerable work of cinema in its own right. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Kokoro for home viewing in the UK for the very first time.

• The Burmese Harps | Blu Ray | (30/08/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  A rhapsodic celebration of song a brutal condemnation of wartime mentality and a lyrical statement of hope within darkness; even amongst the riches of 1950s' Japanese cinema The Burmese Harp directed by Kon Ichikawa (Alone Across the Pacific Tokyo Olympiad) stands as one of the finest achievements of its era. At the close of World War II a Japanese army regiment in Burma surrenders to the British. Private Mizushima is sent on a lone mission to persuade a trapped Japanese battalion to surrender also. When the outcome is a failure he disguises himself in the robes of a Buddhist monk in hope of temporary anonymity as he journeys across the landscape - but he underestimates the power of his assumed role. A visually extraordinary and deeply moving vision of horror necessity and redemption in the aftermath of war Ichikawa's breakthrough film is one of the great humanitarian affirmations of the cinema. Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and honoured at the Venice Film Festival The Burmese Harp is one of cinema's great anti-war classics alongside La Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir) Grave Of The Fireflies (Isao Takahata/Studio Ghibli) Paths Of Glory (Stanley Kubrick) All Quiet On The Western Front (Lewis Milestone) and The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin) The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Burmese Harp.

• Burmese Harp, the | DVD | (21/02/2011) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A rhapsodic celebration of song a brutal condemnation of wartime mentality and a lyrical statement of hope within darkness; even amongst the riches of 1950s' Japanese cinema The Burmese Harp directed by Kon Ichikawa (Alone Across the Pacific Tokyo Olympiad) stands as one of the finest achievements of its era. At the close of World War II a Japanese army regiment in Burma surrenders to the British. Private Mizushima is sent on a lone mission to persuade a trapped Japanese battalion to surrender also. When the outcome is a failure he disguises himself in the robes of a Buddhist monk in hope of temporary anonymity as he journeys across the landscape - but he underestimates the power of his assumed role. A visually extraordinary and deeply moving vision of horror necessity and redemption in the aftermath of war Ichikawa's breakthrough film is one of the great humanitarian affirmations of the cinema.