‘The Burmese Harp’

This 1956 picture is one of the great anti-war films--and one of the few to evoke a genuine sense of spiritual awakening--it was directed by Kon Ichikawa, who recently remade it. It is set in the final days of World War II in Burma, where a young Japanese soldier (Shoji Yasui, pictured) has embraced Buddhism and become dedicated to burying the dead instead of returning home. A haunting, elegaic reverie of a movie; its opening battle scenes recalling John Ford’s cavalry westerns. With Rentaro Mikuni as the soldier’s understanding captain (KCET Saturday at 10:30 p.m.).