#130- The Burmese Harp

Quick recap: Set during World War II, this movie follows a group of Japanese soldiers who have just crossed over into Burma, the main character being a guy who plays a Burmese harp. After being told the war is over, the Burmese Harp guy goes on a mission to find another group of soldiers to ask them to surrender instead of fighting to their death. The soldiers refuse and are all killed. Burmese harp guy is supposed to go back to his group who are currently in an internment camp but instead decides he would be more useful in other places.

Fun (?) fact: Godzilla’s requiem theme from the 1954 movie ‘Gojira’ can be heard during several parts of this film. Because nothing goes better together than a story of a Buddhist monk and Godzilla.

My thoughts: The Burmese Harp is a war movie in the sense that it is set during World War II and the characters are all soldiers. Thankfully, and I say that solely because I have had more than my share of war movies lately, the theme is less war centered and revolves instead around pacifist themes. Yay for not having to sit through confusing battle scenes and lots of blood and guts. Everything is coming up Mary!

The downside of making this sort of movie is that pacifism is sort of dull. The Burmese Harp is a beautiful film, don’t get me wrong, but ‘beautiful’ can only keep my attention for so long. The whole thing reminded me of reading Siddhartha when I was in high school. It too is a beautiful book about a man’s journey to spiritual fulfillment, but just know that if you choose to read it, don’t expect there to be much,if any, action. The only real action this movie has is when all of the Japanese soldiers are killed when they refuse to surrender. Even then you never really see a fight, just the aftermath. Also, that scene happens during the first half hour of the film while the next hour and a half is filled with a lot of walking and singing. Lots of walking and singing.

One thing I did enjoy about this film is watching Mizushima, the Burmese Harp guy, realize his calling. After being injured, he begins to make his way back to the internment camp to join his squad. On the way, he steals a Buddhist robe and also begins to take on the role of a monk. His journey takes him all the way across Burma where he sees bodies strewn about. He begins to bury and burn the bodies, hoping to give them a little bit of dignity in the end. I’m sure it must have been a very difficult decision to stay in a foreign land, adopt a new lifestyle and never see your friends again. But that’s sort of the point of being a monk, to put others before yourself.

I feel a little guilty for not being as in to this movie as I would’ve liked to be. It seems right up my alley, especially since I find myself identifying more with the pacifism side than the war side. But it just didn’t do much for me. I feel like this movie was made more for the Japanese people than me as an American. There was plenty to identify with and learn from, but in the end I felt like it would be more powerful for those who have lived through the horror directly.

Final review: 2/5. Not my cup of tea but a beautiful film, nonetheless.

Up next: HORRORFEST 2014

#124- The Thin Blue Line

Quick recap: A documentary from Errol Morris, who attempts to prove a man has been wrongly convicted of murder. The story takes place in Dallas, Texas where there has never been any controversy with pegging the wrong guy for murder.

nothing to see here. Move along.

Fun (?) fact: After having his conviction overturned (SPOILER ALERT. I should really do those sooner), Randall Adams sued Morris over the rights to his life.

My thoughts: I had been looking forward to this documentary for awhile A) because I love documentaries and B) because Errol Morris appeared on ‘Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me’ and was pretty funny. Thinking back a bit, there haven’t been many documentaries I have disliked, not even Dear Zachary, which completely broke me until I wished I could no longer feel feelings. Considering all these things, The Thin Blue Line seemed like a slam dunk perfect rating from me.

The case itself is pretty straightforward: A drifter by the name of Randall Adams comes to Dallas looking for a job. Along the way he meets up with teenager David Harris. The two drink a little, smoke a little and watch a movie or two. Later on at night, a man is pulled over by a cop. As the cop walks up to the car he is shot several times and dies. Seeing how it’s the 70’s, it’s really difficult to find the person who did the shooting because all the police have to go on is a poor description of a vehicle. There was another cop in the car that night who was supposed to get out and back her partner up, but instead sat in the car sipping a milkshake. After the officer was shot she dropped the milkshake and allegedly fired shots into the fleeing vehicle. About a month later David Harris reemerged in his hometown, bragging about killing a cop so that somehow led police to arrest Randall Adams instead.

there was a lot of time spent on this milkshake

To cut to the chase, I feel like Adams was probably innocent (and the court agreed too because his case was overturned) but I don’t believe Morris made an ironclad argument. There were a lot of details that showed the ineptitude of the investigators- focusing on Adams from the beginning and then finding evidence to back them up, as well as the witnesses who claimed to have driven by as the cop pulled someone over. But there were also a few unanswered questions for me: Harris said he was a ‘scared 16 year old kid’ but he had already done a lot of crimes so why did this cop scare him enough to shoot? And it was also never answered where Adams was the night of the murder. Could he have been in the car?

Moving away from my super scholarly arguments, I mostly disliked this documentary because it was SO literal. A person mentions that it was after midnight and you see a clock pointing to midnight. An investigator mentions hypnosis and there’s a watch swinging back and forth. The investigator mentions the police officer throwing her milkshake out the window and then that’s what you see because it’s apparently really difficult to imagine that. The reenacted scenes were also a little hokey. I like that Morris continued to use the description of Adams instead of Harris so that the audience could see how little belief that theory held, but I got tired of watching the cop get shot 10 different times. The milkshake getting tossed never got old though. I hope it was at least a strawberry flavor.

Final review: 2/5. Meh.

Up next: Jaws at the Drafthouse.

#119- Out of Africa

Quick recap: A somewhat biographical story of the Baroness Karen Blixen, who goes to Africa and then later gets ‘out of Africa’. And also falls in love with Robert Redford, because didn’t we all at some point?

Robert Redford can make hair washing look hot

Fun (?) fact: In one scene, Meryl Streep (Blixen) had to fire at a lion. She was promised the lion would be restrained but he was not, so her fear is real. It’s kind of like when I think one of my cats is asleep next to me, only to find out they aren’t and I have left my feet uncovered. It never ends well.

But the lions hung out on Denys’ grave at the end of the movie so all was forgiven

My thoughts: For a lady who ran a plantation all by herself in Africa while surrounded by lions and war, Karen Blixon’s life onscreen is rather dull. If I had to attribute it to one thing, I think the reason the movie didn’t really resonate with me is that it is framed as an ‘epic romance’. I’m not saying that because I don’t really like romance movies, but because the story is about a woman’s life in Africa.I felt that there were many scenes that could’ve been grittier and shown more emotion. There were so many opportunities to show how fierce and strong she was, but instead we see that she struggles until Denys (Robert Redford) strolls up and saves the day and in the end, all that’s really been injured is Blixon’s hair. She also had Syphilis during the movie but I don’t think many people would consider that a fun adventure.

I could go into the offensive colonial mindset that was present throughout the film, but considering that’s how Blixon presented her world in her writing, I suppose Out of Africa was accurate in that regard. I also liked Denys’ opposing viewpoint that the indigenous tribes were fully formed people who didn’t really need to be civilized. Blixon fought for workers to have their own land and not be split up so I’m glad she realized what was best.

I suppose I am contradicting myself a little bit, but what I loved most about Out of Africa was the gorgeous scenery when Denys and Blixon went on adventures and faced danger. It was beautiful and almost made me want to see the landscape up close. Almost. So while I didn’t find the action all that exciting, the scenery made up for it.

the real Karen and Denys

Final review: 2/5. Almost a 3, especially considering how much I loved Streep’s performance but in the end a 2 because it was so LONG.

Up next: Murder, My Sweet

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#117- Nashville

Quick recap:This is a satirical film about……Nashville. There are a billion different characters and story lines which I’m not even going to attempt to go into.

even Jeff Goldblum is in the movie

Fun (?) fact: Almost all the dialogue throughout the movie is improvised. Also, all actors singing were required to write and perform their own original songs.

even Elliott Gould appeared briefly in Nashville

My thoughts: I’m not sure where to begin on this review because frankly, I’m not entirely sure what I just watched. IMDb says this movie is in the drama genre but there is satire so I should’ve laughed, right? Or at least shook my head and quietly mumbled, ‘good job, Altman. You get it.’? I think my issue with the ‘satire’ label is that I have no concept of what life was like then. Director Robert Altman tried to capture what America was going through in 1975- the end of Vietnam War as well as the Watergate scandal, and then the bicentennial celebration in 76 which was supposed to honor the morals that the US was founded on. So, in the sense that I am an adult with critical thinking skills I get the point but I don’t really get it because I wasn’t alive then. In this instance, the movie’s core was lost on me but for someone older I could imagine it really having an impact and bringing back memories of that time.

So what I’m left with is a story about Nashville. Kind of. As mentioned above, there are so many story lines and characters that it mostly seems chaotic. The characters interact with each other and show up at various events together but they aren’t best friends or anything. I spent the first 2 hours trying to find a connection and then waiting for a big moment but it didn’t come until the very end. The ending is a twist and sort of ties everything together but not really. As an example, one of the characters is a soldier who keeps popping up around another character, Barbara Jean. He is shown in all scenes with her, even as just a face in the crowd in some instances. It is later revealed that his mom once saved Barbara Jean from a fire and wanted her son to find her. That’s it. That was the climax for that story line.

Other story lines- in fact, almost all of the story lines- are bleak and sad. There’s Sueeleen who can’t sing but since she’s hot she gets booked into a big gig. Once the people hear her they start to boo. She is then talked into a strip tease because that’s what the audience really came for. Another sad character is Mr. Green, whose wife is in the hospital. He spends the movie trying to hunt down his niece who would rather visit with boys than her sick aunt, who later dies. It seemed as if Altman was making fun of the country music scene but even his most famous character Haven Hamilton is pretty much what I would expect a country star to act like. I think I just didn’t get this movie or its importance. Moving on.

Final review: 2/5. It also annoys me that so many stars were in this movie. No reason why, but I think it added to the overall chaos

Up next: Muriel’s Wedding

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1001 Movie Nights

Tag Archives: 2/5

#130- The Burmese Harp

#124- The Thin Blue Line

#119- Out of Africa

#117- Nashville

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