Release Date: August 5, 2025
Prices and Links:
Criterion- $34.96 4K+Blu-ray) , $27.96 (Blu-ray only)
OrbitDVD- $33.99 (4K+Blu-ray)
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Writers: Natto Wada, Michio Takeyama
Starring: Rentarô Mikuni, Shôji Yasui, Jun Hamamura, Taketoshi Naitô, Shunji Kasuga
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.
Prices and Links:
Criterion- $34.96 4K+Blu-ray) , $27.96 (Blu-ray only)
OrbitDVD- $33.99 (4K+Blu-ray)
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Writers: Natto Wada, Michio Takeyama
Starring: Rentarô Mikuni, Shôji Yasui, Jun Hamamura, Taketoshi Naitô, Shunji Kasuga
- Japan
- 1956
- 116 minutes
- Black & White
- 1.37:1
- Japanese
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.
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
