samskivert: Biruma no tategoto (4)

13 July 2001

An unassuming and powerful exploration of one man’s struggle to come to terms with the tragedy of war and his own humanity. Set in Burma and shot in the fifties, the film is simple and beautiful as it tells the tale of a Japanese platoon and one private whose life is radically changed as the war comes to a close. Biruma no tategoto underscores the fact that despite all our technical improvements, we’re still not making films that are substantially more compelling than those of nearly half a century ago.

©1999–2022 Michael Bayne