Kaneto Shindō directs Nobuko Otowa, Taiji Tonoyama and Shinji Tanaka in this near silent drama following a year in the life of a family who farm a small island with no fresh water source, just off from the coast of Japan.

The slog. The grind. The relentless struggle. Taking water endlessly across water, taking water painfully uphill. A slap. Eisenstein-style montage of eating family and eating animals. The festivals. The day off. The mainland like an alien future world. The tragedy. The desperation. The grief. The slog. The grind. The relentless struggle. Taking water endlessly across water, taking water painfully uphill. So dark, so beautiful. Usually silent cinema cannot hold my full attention. And while this isn’t exactly textbook “silent” it is almost entirely dialogue free and I was enthralled. A genuine one-of-a-kind.

10

Perfect Double Bill: Red Sorghum (1987)

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