L'Île nue

I was living next to the Seto Naikai (Inland Sea) at the time this movie was made, and marvel at its matchless, eclectic choice of images and atmosphere to convey the ambiance of the time and place. The photography, music, and restrained acting are perfection itself. The lack of dialogue helps, rather than hinders, its beautiful, simple story. It has captured a Japanese way of life and culture (actually lived by the director---the movie was made as a tribute to his parents) forever and in the very highest artistic sense. The movie is so genuine, so sympathetic to its participants and subject matter, that the viewer is softly, irresistibly, drawn in to share their travails. For years it has been a wonder to me why this classic film has been forgotten. Of the thousands of movies I have seen in my lifetime, this is the finest.

I came to the internet searching for information on this movie. Not only did I find it, but I found a comment that mirrored my own experience with the movie. I too saw it in my student days, nearly 30 years ago, in a Friday-night "cinema" series in the student union theater. I see it's listed as B&W; I remember it in color -- maybe colorized it in my head? No dialog, just music and environmental sound; gorgeous photography of the island, the sea, the brutally hard work ferrying water for the crops on the terraces. And we follow that work for a long long time; we go through impressed, to irritated (why don't they move to town for chrissake), to rage at being made to sit through this for so long, to numb resignation. So we're right where the characters are. Writhing in my seat, hoping it will come to an end. And then the brief scene that left me stunned, that made sense of all that lead up to it, two seconds of film that explain us in the universe. Like William, I've never met anyone else who's seen this movie. And I don't know if I could sit through it again. But I'm sure glad I did back then.

Amazing! Let me join the happy few who saw this film when it first came out. It was in Paris. I was a student. It was L'Ile Nu I think. And I have never forgotten it and never seen it again. That's over 40 years ago! And now it is coming out on DVD and most people will never have heard of it. So my dear golden oldies who were young in 1961, rejoice and tell everyone. This is pure cinema with no frills, worthy of comparison with Dreyer, Bresson and O'Flaherty and a lovely companion piece to Shindo's ONIBABA. That onibaba grass stayed with us over the years as did that naked island. Talking of films lost but not forgotten, I can draw a comparison with MERE JEANNE DES ANGES (same subject matter as Ken Russell's THE DEVILS)which I saw in Leipzig in about 1962 and which I have never seen since. What a coincidence! That Polish film (MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS)is also coming out on DVD. Real poetic cinema is trickling through the mishmash.

If you have ever wondered what a film would be like that exemplifies how the tools of the craft can be used to do powerfully what no other art can do, this film answers the question. It is among the most carefully wrought, least encumbered yet profound movies ever made. The fact that it has long been unavailable in America and Europe in any accessible format reflects very sadly upon us all. (Addendum 15 March 2008 for those of you with region-free players: the English distributor, Eureka, has thankfully released the original widescreen version of the movie in PAL format in its 'The Masters of Cinema Series', #12, with an optional commentary by Shindo and his composer, Hikaru Hayashi. Available from Amazon.uk.)

I saw this movie twenty years ago and I still remember it fondly. It should be part of the training of movie directors to see and analyze this movie. The naked island (as it was named in France) shows the hard struggle of a fisherman's family to survive in a very harsh environment. It is very emotional yet does not call on any modern artifice to carry the message. The music will stay with you forever. My only regret is that I can't get a copy to show my children what movie making can be.