I was a little skeptical of in the beginning. Early on the soldiers sing while the main character plays a "Burmese harp." It comes across as overly sentimental and saccharine, especially since the harp on the soundtrack is clearly a full orchestral harp (go to youtube if you want to hear a real Burmese harp, which sounds more like a guitar and is played with a that more plunk-y approach often found in Asian music).
But the movie gets quite good quite fast, beginning with the Japanese soldiers' ingenious response to discovering they are surrounded by English soldiers.
Even though this is meant to be a sincere drama, the movie really likes it's clever, somewhat artificial touches, like the parrots. I like them as well, and the story is intriguing and well told.
This movie is often billed as an "anti-war" movie, but I would say it's more a "horrors of war" movie. Anti-war movies are those like All Quiet on the Western Front that portray war as a horrible madness, unnecessary and cruel. This is a brave stance, as most people consider war a necessary evil. It is less brave to say war is terrible and destructive, because even famous generals will tell you that.
The movie, for that matter, seems mainly focused on how horrible war was for the Japanese. I'm suspicious of the scene in which the Burmese welcome the Japanese soldiers pleasantly into their village, because in general what soldiers do is take skimpy resources from the locals, which are given under duress. And while yes, the movie has a vague homily to creating peace right at the end, that is never really the focus; this is about one shell-shocked soldier rather than about a systemic problem.
While I can pick at the movie's subtext (something ably done in the IMDb user review of gleywong@erols.com), it is fluid and well filmed, with affecting scenes and a compelling story. While the director leans a bit too much on artifice, typified by the false sound of the titular instrument, overall this is an excellent drama well worth your time.
But the movie gets quite good quite fast, beginning with the Japanese soldiers' ingenious response to discovering they are surrounded by English soldiers.
Even though this is meant to be a sincere drama, the movie really likes it's clever, somewhat artificial touches, like the parrots. I like them as well, and the story is intriguing and well told.
This movie is often billed as an "anti-war" movie, but I would say it's more a "horrors of war" movie. Anti-war movies are those like All Quiet on the Western Front that portray war as a horrible madness, unnecessary and cruel. This is a brave stance, as most people consider war a necessary evil. It is less brave to say war is terrible and destructive, because even famous generals will tell you that.
The movie, for that matter, seems mainly focused on how horrible war was for the Japanese. I'm suspicious of the scene in which the Burmese welcome the Japanese soldiers pleasantly into their village, because in general what soldiers do is take skimpy resources from the locals, which are given under duress. And while yes, the movie has a vague homily to creating peace right at the end, that is never really the focus; this is about one shell-shocked soldier rather than about a systemic problem.
While I can pick at the movie's subtext (something ably done in the IMDb user review of gleywong@erols.com), it is fluid and well filmed, with affecting scenes and a compelling story. While the director leans a bit too much on artifice, typified by the false sound of the titular instrument, overall this is an excellent drama well worth your time.