The Island

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andres s Wow beautiful sweeping tropical music and gorgeous aerial shots of the island. The music reminds me of the James Bond movies from the 60's. Very captivating the way Kaneto films this movie. He really does know how to compose beautiful shot. Visually mesmerizing. It does fell kind of surreal given that there's no dialogue. That's insane how they have to climb the side of the mountain while balancing the buckets of water on their shoulders. And they have to do this shit every fucking day! Omg I can't even imagine. There's something extremely poetic about the way Kaneto films his movies. I love how they show the way of living for this family on this island. They have a goat, and a couple of ducks, and they have two little boys. It's quite the sweet modest little farmer life they got going for them but damn, what a hard and strenuous one. Having to go back to land in order to get water and then bring it back to the island in order to water the crops and use to for daily tasks. It really puts in perspective how fortunate, lucky and spoiled we are to have water readily available whenever we want in our homes. These people are really going through it just so they can survive and make ends meet. I knew she was going to drop the buckets eventually out of exhaustion. I was hoping that the husband was going to be nice to her but in the back of my mind I knew he was going to get upset and slap her. Anyone would having to work under the sun. At least he helped her carry the buckets to the top lol. Oh shit, wow their little boy died. That was pretty unexpected and shocking to suddenly see a small wooden box in the living room where the boy used to sleep. And now his classmates have arrived at the island along with the teacher and a priest to attend the burial. I think that's that pretty sweet how they burry him at the highest point of the island. I thought that whole scene was pretty heartwarming. What was amazing about this movie was how fast it went by. The subject matter is presented in such a simple and straightforward way without any dialogue, and yet it's fascinating to watch. An interesting detailed look at farm life and the struggles that come with living on an isolated island away from land. It's really cool seeing where Kaneto started out and seeing his style already established in this movie, later making its way into Onibaba and Kuroneko. His cinematography is very unique. You can tell he has a strong love and admiration for nature and wildlife. I love Kaneto's movies and this one is no exception. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Wordless but not silent, Kaneto Shindô's The Naked Island (Hadaka no shima) feels almost like ethnography as it details the (hard) lives of a family of four who live on a small rocky island in the Seto Inland Sea of Southern Japan. They carry fresh water in large wooden buckets from another island (paddling across the sea in a wooden boat) just to irrigate their crops, which seem to be dying of heatstroke on the exposed cliff face. No one speaks, they just work; the husband tends to the field while the wife carries the water and the children help to prepare meals (when they are not being ferried to school by the mother). They take turns having a bath in an old oil drum. There is an almost tactile sensuality to the widescreen images â" and the Foley artists seem to be working overtime! Indeed, it slowly becomes apparent that the sounds have been consciously selected, along with the jaunty (almost Tati-like) musical theme which changes its pace and mood along with the events portrayed. When the two sons manage to catch a fish, the family heads to the nearest town (jarringly this is a modern film, taking place in 1960 or thereabouts) for an evening out (restaurant, cable car up a mountain). A late tragedy darkens the film's tone dramatically, almost turning it to horror (a nod toward this director's later masterworks in that genre: Onibaba, 1964, and Kuroneko, 1968). Stoically (except for a brief release of tension and pain), the family continues their daily routine (wordlessly). The result is hypnotic and beautiful, but perplexing in its intentions. Why the constraint of wordlessness? Is this hard, almost Sisyphean life, a metaphor for another fruitless challenge? Regardless, it works as a pseudo-documentary of a place and lifestyle you've never seen before. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member What a stunning film from Kaneto Shindo! It features no dialogue and is shot like a documentary following a family of farmers that live on a barren island and their daily struggle for survival. The B&W cinematography creates some of the most beautiful images I have ever seen. The score is haunting and highly memorable. The acting is flawless. This masterpiece is highly recommended! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member ????? ???????????????????????????? Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Not a word is either needed or spoken. In this film Shindo creates a unique poetic vision and portrays life and death in its purest form. Occasionally, its length makes it seem a little over indulgent, but there is no questioning the beauty of the careful photography not is it possible not to admire Shindo for his audacity in creating such a challenging work. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member 'The Naked Island' (1960) To start the review of 'Hadaka no shima' we have got to quote the director's own words Kaneto Shindô (who died in 2012 at the age of 100 with his last picture made at the age of 98) "This movie was made as a 'cinematic poem' to try and capture the life of human beings struggling like ants against the forces of nature." This bold art film which falls into some sort of Japanese neorealism depicts in the most simple ways nature and life as ruthless and beautiful, a mystery where mankind is thrown into without a choice and where it's only primal instinct is to survive everyday hoping for an answer. The beauty of the film is its extreme universal approach to reality reinforced by the absence of dialogue throughout the whole picture. The film is a universal moving painting..and the characters have that fine quality that makes you love them. It's maybe difficult to watch but its extremely moving and rich in details. A cinematic and poetic Masterpiece. Merits go to the director who's devoted his life in this picture like in all his movies mostly because are biographical. This movie for example is a portrait of his real parents a backdrop to a moment in Japanese history, with its ways of living and thinking that might look old and from the past but that are basic to any modern cultures touching upon existentialism and needs of communication. Shot in the 60s in B/W This movie is perfect! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Island

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