Biruma no Tategoto (Harp of Burma)
Ichikawa Kon1957
Class Notes
Week 7
The War in Asia and the Pacific
Biruma no Tategoto (Harp of Burma)
Ichikawa Kon
1957
Key Terms:
Quest: A trip in which the person is seeking something. The most famous in the West is the "quest for the Holy Grail"
Road movie: potentially, but not always, a film about a "quest"
Histography: The writing down of history as opposed to thactual events that happened.
Before the film.
This is considered by some to be the second greatest Japanese anti war film. The first, Ningen no Jogen is a huge 3 part nine and a half hour film, the first part of which, The Human Condition we shall see next week. Some inertesting points about the film are that is was scheduled to be made during the occupation, but it is thought that the inclusion of different peoples in the films (British, Burmese, Japanese, etc.) and its involvement with religion made it too difficult.
In addition, after the film was finished, the editing was taken over by someone other than the director and is rather poor in many ways.
How are the various participants in the war depicted? Japanese, British and Burmese?
There are two different Japanese companies shown in the film. How are they simliar How are they different?
What function do they serve?
Ichikawa has made another very famous anti-war film called Nobi or Fire on the Plain. In this film, the Japanese soldiers are quite different than in Biruma no Tategoto
Importance of the "group" in Japan.
Most people agree that the Japanese are strongly bonded within groups, and that being part of a group is critical. This accounts for the way the Japanese become involved with companies, and have little pins that represent their affiliation with the group.
So important are these affiliations and symbols of affiliation that Japanese baseball players have become furious with American team members who have given away things like their "team jacket" since that should not belong to an "outsider".
At the highest level one identifies with (bonds if you like) being Japanese.
Buddhism
Buddhism, as we pointed out previously is one of the two major religions (which are considered by Japanese to be "indigenous" or native. The other is Shinto. (See HANDOUT # 4 Religion)
Buddhism is generally the religion in Japan that deals with death, dying, and is involved with the funeral rituals.
Buddhism contains a number of rituals and prayers for the dead which are considered of extreme importance for the deceased.
Quests
This is a kind of "quest" films. For what is the quest?
The film is in three different languages: Japanese, English and Burmese, so probably everyone in the class will get to read some subtitles! What function does this multilingualism play?
Inportance of Art
What is the relevence of art in this film? Music plays an important role in the film. Is music a language? Is it universal?
What is the function of language? How does language function as an art form? The film opens with a "poem" about Burma. What is its purpose? Compare with opening chant in Throne of Blood.
The film is a narration? Who is narrating? Why is this important to the film? Postmodernism, History and Histography
History is a series of events that happened. Histography is the writing about those events.
Is "histography" true?
Are there aspects of history that can not be denied?
Can we deny the attack on Pearl Harbor?
Can we be sure of whether or not the US and Britain knew about the attack in advance?
Can we deny the dropping of the bomb on Japan?
Can we be sure of the reason it was dropped? Consider the near riots over the Smithsonian Institutions decision to raise problems about the event (veterans groups were outraged and the Smithsonian altered the exhibit.
Can we distinguish between history and a bias or "slant" in all things in history or just interpretive things.
How is nature used in the film?
weather, terrain, etc.
After the film:
How does the Japanese idea of belonging to the group influence this film? In what ways is it important? What groups are involved?
As a member of the squad
As a member of the Japanese people
As a member of the human race.
What is the role of art and music in the film?
Is it a universal language? In what sense?
Do people in the music respond to music? In what way?
People on different sides recognize music and respond to it.
British and Japanese sing the same song. It allows them to recognize things about one another that all people share the same humanness. Music becomes a symbol for human unity. (Doesn't really matter that music styles are rather different all over the world and not all music is culturally transmittable).
Mizushima is "naturally" musical (i.e. self taught). His humanism is "instinctive". The Captain has learned music, but he understands Mizushima better than the others. He knew why he wouldn't come back before the others and is the most moved by it.
The film is art - is it the film makers way of "saying" sending a "non verbal" message.
What is the role of language
Poetry. Opens and closes film. Is there some symmetry here? Two groups of soldiers, two parrots, etc. The parrot who says what people can not., either by distance or by psychological inability.
The film is bounded by the poem about the Burmese soil and rocks. This serves as a "marker" for the beginning and ending of the film, much the way "Once Upon a Time" and "They all lived happily ever after." marks the start and end of fairy tales. (Japanese starts "mukashi, mukashi" "A long time ago, a long time ago"). The fact that the story is narrated can be seen to indicate it will be remembered. It is a "significant" story as opposed to just a "war story"
What is the quest?
It is the realization that we are all humans and war should be avoided.
Mizushima's spiritual quest removes him from his groups - squad, cultural and national and he becomes simply "human" identifying with a still larger group.
How is it reached?
Through Mizushima's growing identification with the dead who will never go home and for whom no one will bury the bodies or say the prayers over them.
How do we see Mizushima's growing break with the Japanese and attachment to ever larger groups?
First he is said to look more and more like the Burmese when he dresses as one of the for the patrol, when he losses his clothes and is in banana leaves they say he looks better. Then when he dresses as the priest and they see him on the bridge, they are not sure if he is one of them.First he needs to peel away levels of identity
How is nature used?
Terrain - mountains to cross, beaches, hard soil. The opening poem "Burma's land is red. It's rocks are red too." How so? From blood shed?
Weather - rain when Mizushima walks - passage of time.
Views of bodies in the mountains appear as though they are parts of the mountains.
Views of the mountains and sky when Mizushima's company surrenders; View of the ocean as the letter is read
History and Histography
The idea behind much of political correctness and post modernism is to claim that not everyone's views about an event are the same. This is almost definitely true. Both of these attempt to show "other people's" views of specific historical events in order to "empower" them, usually at the cost of "disempowering" the more traditional version. Is this reasonable if the "truth" can not be known?
Ichikawa has been accused of being inaccurate about history. For example, Mellen complains that he does not report "realistically" the way the Japanese behaved or the way the rest of Asia responded to them. Is this history or histography.? Is the film meant to be a realistic comment on the war as it occurred in SE Asia? Or does it transcend the actual war?
There are two kinds of soldiers, those who give up and those that don't. Those that don't explain it would be an insult to those who died to surrender. They all die in Burma. Those who surrender go back to rebuild Japan. Although moved by Mizushima's decision to stay, does it have a permanent effect on them? What are thinking about relative to their return to Japan?
Mellen has also said that the most moving moment in Japanese film is when a tear runs down Mizushima's face as he plays the harp to say farewell to his comrades.
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