Determined to satisfy my movie jones I came home and popped in a rental copy of a film a fellow wine geek ( and former film major) Lyle Fass had recommended earlier in the year in one of his Top Ten blogs. It was the 1956 release of Japanese director, Kon Ichikawa's brilliant "The Burmese Harp." It had been re-mastered by The Criterion Collection, a company dedicated to restoring and preserving the World's great film classics. A few seconds into the film's vivid black and white opening shot and I knew I had found pay dirt... The story begins in 1945 in the Burmese jungle with a troop of Japanese infantrymen during the final days of the war. They are lead by a gallant but practical officer. Among them is Mizushima, a private with natural musical ability who plays the harp. They march and sing and as we get to know their individual personalities we see they are not at all like the stereotypes that were circulated at the time.  Eventually they meet up with the British and learn that Japan has surrendered so being a reasonable man and not wanting to see any more blood shed needlessly, the Captain tells the troop to surrender. At the prisoner of war came they learn of some Japanese troops that are hold up and refusing to surrender. Mizushima is sent on a mission by his Captain to convince them to stop fighting. When the unit refuses to give up and are destroyed by the British Army, only Mizushima remains alive. Something changes in him and pretending to be a Buddhist monk, he undergoes a religious conversion when he comes face to face with the staggering amount of death and destruction he sees  He travels across the region in search of his unit. Determined to honor and bury the dead, Mizushima is conflicted about remaining in Burma to live a life of service or returning to Japan to help rebuild his own country. He chooses to remain. It's a universal testament not only to the madness that prevailed in Burma, but to the unspeakable horror of all war. Telling it from the Japanese perspective makes it all the more poignant, something that director, Clint Eastwood also attempted in his "Letters from Iwo Jima."  Believing that the other side are demons and incapable of feelings has always been the key to getting a population to go to war. How much more difficult would it be if everyone felt the enemy was just like us? Granted it was a different time then but aren't all times different. Not only is the story important, the cinematography is also stunning. The lessons learned in "The Burmese Harp" still hold true. I'm glad I saw it. Sometimes in our quest for something new it's better to revisit the past.