Brouillette- Harp of Burma

I think I went into watching Harp of Burma with my expectations a little too high. After seeing Grave of the Fireflies several times over my life, I guess was expecting a more depressing war story out of this movie. Harp of Burma is simply a melancholy tale that tells only part of a full story; it tries to get the viewer to see a part of war through the eyes of the soldiers. However, it goes about this in a non-traditional way. Instead of showing the hardships of war, it focuses on its outcome and the effect it can have on the human spirit.

The animation in Harp of Burma was unimpressive and definitely showed its age, but I can understand the story it was trying to tell clearly. At times the artwork was distracting with how silly it was in a story that was trying to be serious, but that has to be overlooked to actually consider the point of this movie. Peace is the point. Mizushima as a character learns to respect peace above all things, not something a soldier is traditionally known for. After he is separated from his troop he is confronted by the reality of the massive death toll that has befallen the Japanese army. The grief that consumes him upon witnessing this tragedy is so great that it overrides his will to return home, or to the soldiers who had once served as his family. He gives up everything he once knew to bring peace to the dead. The fact that he is putting so much of his effort to simply bury corpses is a major statement of his belief. He is genuinely concerned with his fallen comrade's well being in the after life. He works out of a need for peace; since he has seen so much death he feels that he needs to counter it with good, peaceful action and respect for the dead who have been left to rot. It is his way of bringing a sort of justice to the world.

Overall, Harp of Burma is an interesting little story, but it is just that- little. There was nothing spectacular or new about what it was trying to portray, but it does serve as a reminder that we shouldn't take the dead for granted. In a time when real war is so distant to us, it's important to remember to honor those who give their lives in war.