Ningen

Fantastic! A crew of four on a small fishing vessel get stranded after their ship is destroyed in a storm. They have a small supply of food and water, and soon the tensions are rising. This is just a beautifully shot (in that glorious black and white widescreen that Japan of the 60s excelled at) and directed film. Shindo's use of space is outstanding. Taiji Tonoyama plays the captain, a man who lived through the starvation of the war. Kei Yamamoto plays Tonyama's young nephew. Kei Sato and Nobuko Otowa play the other two crew members, and the ones who decide that they no longer want to follow the captain's orders. This is nearly a masterpiece, but there are a couple of plot developments toward the end that feel a bit too pat. The title translates to A Man, The Man or just Human (which is the translation my subtitles settled on).

Four people aboard a fishing vessel have to survive when it is badly damaged in a storm.

Reminiscent of Hitchcock's "Lifeboat", in being set entirely onboard a single, cramped tiny craft, "Human" is nicely-shot and constructed, but not a lot really happens and we never get to know the characters very well. The "mutiny" doesn't seem to make any sense when there's only four people on board and the kindly captain is just doing what any sensible person would do. I also don't understand why no-one aboard a fishing vessel tries to catch a fish at any point.

Fine cinematography and decent acting, but an undernourished, dull and frustratingly pointless story, all in all.