Director: Kaneto Shindo
Starring: Nobuko Otowa, Taiji Tonoyama, Shinji Tanaka, Masanori Horimoto,
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Certificate: U
Extras: Audio Commentary with director Kaneto Shindo and composer Hikaru Hayashi, Video introduction by Alex Cox, 32 page booklet containing essays and interviews,
One of the most fascinating elements of Japanese film is how its landscape has changed over time. After the Second World War, masters such as Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi were able to throw off the restrictive oppression of government censorship and embrace new and freer ways to tell their stories. However, many filmmakers also felt it was important to show a strong and resilient view of Japan and its culture. With THE NAKED ISLAND, Kaneto Shindo manages to express not only the resilient nature of Japan and its people in a post-war climate, but also explored the weaknesses of a traditional life in a harsh land.
A family of four live alone on an island. Each day the parents work under the baking sun to try and cultivate enough food to sell. Their struggle is intensified by the fact that fresh water must be collected from a neighbouring island and brought back on a boat, before being carried up a steep hill. Their lives are hard, but the family never gives up. Shindo details the repetitive and mundane nature of these people’s lives. Luckily for the audience, he manages to capture such routine operations with unforgettable composition and gorgeously crafted shots, as well as a marriage between imagery and music with his composer Hikaru Hiyashi. Many shots contrast the sea with the hills, and Shindo achieves the fairest balance between each. This Blu-ray transfer also manages to highlight the supreme detail on offer, with every subtle ripple in the ocean and every blade of grass clearly distinguishable from its counterparts.
Shindo and a small production team tread the line between documentary and narrative at times. Although not a silent film, hardly a word is spoken. With the characters living such monotonous lives, you have to wonder what they would have left to say to each other. Simple breaks in the routine result in the most memorable moments for both us and the family. As the mother gives up on carrying the water through exhaustion she is slapped by her husband, the boys catch a huge fish and sell it at market, the boys and their father encounter a TV, a luxury which both engages and confuses them. A highly dramatic turn in the last act also highlights the expertise in editing by Toshio Enoki, who makes a terribly slow boat journey into an exciting and breathtaking climatic set piece.
THE NAKED ISLAND isn’t so much a film you enjoy, as it is one that you appreciate and admire its craft. Every shot deserves to be paused and absorbed. The mise-en-scene is wonderfully understated but pertinent; the family’s stools are made from small logs with flat pieces of wood on top. Shindo may be remembered primarily for his horrors, but THE NAKED ISLAND is perhaps his true masterpiece. It’s a simple film, about simple people, living simple lives. On the surface at least, but like the characters involved there is a soft complexity which resonates throughout. A beautiful masterpiece, beautifully presented.
Extras: The commentary is a case of quality over quantity. It’s an absolute delight to hear one of the masters be able to discuss his work in such eloquent detail. Joined by composer Hikaru Hiayshi, Shindo recounts certain events as though they had only happened yesterday. Alex Cox’s introduction is also well informed and interesting. The booklet that comes with the Blu-ray contains, as is usually the case with The Masters Of Cinema Series, fascinating takes on the film itself, as well as the work of the director. All these extras equate to a wonderful mini-schooling on the film, with history, context, and production all neatly covered.
THE NAKED ISLAND is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 24th June via Eureka’s Masters Of Cinema range.
