Ano natsu, ichiban shizukana umi

Having recently seen and loved Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman, I became interested in seeing his other work. So I started with this movie, which had been praised to the sky.

Slow? Measured pacing? Grass grows faster. And why doesn't a contemporary Japanese deaf couple know sign language? This film's emotion is so subtle that white bread seems interesting.

I am a lover of foreign and independent films. But the high praise that this one has received has me stumped. It seems to me that the director has tried too hard to create something unusual.

Incredible from the get-go.

Oh, well, I'll keep trying. I shall now watch Kids Return.

I'm a big fan of Takeshi Kitano's work, and I feel this film is his best. Whilst films like Hana-bi, Kids return, and Sonatine may have all the idiosyncratic traits that have made Takeshi so critically acclaimed, they all rely on extremities to convey their message. In the case of 'Ano natsu, ichiban shizukana umi', the director has excelled himself by retaining all the interesting and original traits of his more graphic films, yet managing to tell a story that is just as deep and provocative, only to a more subtle degree.

The story tells of a young, deaf, disenchanted garbage-collector who one day finds a ruined surf-board lying amidst some rubbish. This inspires the boy to become a great surfer, and with the help of a young deaf girl, he gradually becomes more skillful as time progresses, their love blossoming during the course of the movie.

The camera work is extremely sedate and enveloping, managing to capture the calmness of the sea. The characters do not speak, yet the story never seems to drag at all, with each scene drawing the viewer steadily into this very attractive and insular world that they inhabit. The music, scored by Joe Hisiashi, has a very static, timeless quality to it - a mixture of marimba, synthesisers, piano & string instruments manage to convey the atmosphere of the film exceedingly well, with the main theme song capturing the extremely melancholy feel of the film.

This is one of the most beautiful, haunting films you will ever see.

I watched a scene at the sea last night, I was feeling really tired but it actually helped to watch the film in a drowsy state, it is a really simple story and the way kitano tells the story is even more simple, I just can't get over kitano, he's a really incredible film aker, I've only scene this and "hanabi" and "brother", but they all deict a similarly strange world. I like the fact that the camera barely ever moves instead relying on really beautiful long shots that look, in a lot of cases, like paintings. I'm going to make it my mission to see all 11(?) of the films he has directed. Kitano really is just one of those people who can make you forget your watching a movie, the way it all unfolds just feels like something else The acting was reserved but completely convincing, especially between the two main characters, the fact that you could get such a strong sense of character from two people who never speak is really amazing. My appreciation for kitano grows with every film I watch, seek these films out, they're worth it.

Deaf and introvert Shigeru works as a garbage man while his mind is at surfing. He has a very patient girlfriend by his side with which he communicates very little.

Compared to another surf movie say 'Point Break' there are no other similarities than the surf boards. In 'Ano Natsu ...' there is no action, nothing spectacular and no glorification; its a slice of life movie with its humour in the details. The pace is slow, at first it seemed boring, but you'll grow into it quickly and find it rewarding.

The 80s love scene style music by Joe Hisaishi was surprisingly tolerable, its understated anyway.

My favourite Kitano film so far together with 'Dolls'.

The silence is beautiful and poetic. The wave of the sea is the heartbeats of the hearing-impaired young couple, that only the people with beautiful mind can hear. The audience view the story from a distance but is consciously involved with things go. This is the best film from Japanese comedian/director Takeshi Kitano.