When we think about Japanese art, one of the first images we have is the "Great Wave from Kanagawa" realized by Hokusai. If the artist would have been a Westerner we will have for sure the sea and mt. Fuji as screen not as main subject. However we are in Japan and here the aesthetics is related to what is transitory, changeable as the snow on Fuji or the waves of the Ocean. So, this can be considered an achievement given by Zen. Nature is the main element of art. Art shouldn't be too much refined since should be part of a World unstoppable.
If this movie have been filmed by Kubrick or Allen we would have been in front of eyes a masterpiece made by screenplay, plot,music costumes and particulars. We would have an artificial creation. The nature transformed by the mind of man. As marble that become the David by Michelangelo. here, however, we have an essential movie made by what is essential in our life. The nature. As the ceramics of Japan rough and deformed but still in harmony with nature to which they belong. So Kitano is at the opposite side of the Western production. And thus makes a real masterpiece of the East.
The plot is simple and develops around four characters essentially. The young couple of deaf lovers, the silence that surrounds them and the sea. During all the film we have the soundtrack made by Hisaishi Joe that covers the apparent lack of communication. Yes, apparent. During the three quarters of the movie, in fact, we find a third view filming that portrays the young couple life as quite monotone and with no communication and emotions. We see the young boy trying to surf and the young girl watching him. We witness a love both tender and tragic. Incapable of being expressed. However, we will realize to have done a great mistake.
Indeed, as the music rises more intense, at the end of the movie we have a new character. The main one. As we realize, admiring the "Great Wave" engraved by Hokusai,that the wave stands as the subject, here we understand that the main character is the sea. This was the place in which the young couple meet and had fun, felt emotions and dreamed. In other word the only and real witness of their love. We were used to see only the routine of the two young guys but the sea not. He witnesses everything. And in the end, when everything seems to be finished without a great surprise, the sea has his turn to tell us the real love story between them. In a short sequence we see their emotions, their hopes and their happiness. We have in front of our eyes the remaining parts of their routine. A splendid one, made of hugs, laughs and smiles while enjoying a beer. And we cannot feel anything else than a lack. The one given of the love felt by those ones that only the sea in a summer can keep. Silently.
If this movie have been filmed by Kubrick or Allen we would have been in front of eyes a masterpiece made by screenplay, plot,music costumes and particulars. We would have an artificial creation. The nature transformed by the mind of man. As marble that become the David by Michelangelo. here, however, we have an essential movie made by what is essential in our life. The nature. As the ceramics of Japan rough and deformed but still in harmony with nature to which they belong. So Kitano is at the opposite side of the Western production. And thus makes a real masterpiece of the East.
The plot is simple and develops around four characters essentially. The young couple of deaf lovers, the silence that surrounds them and the sea. During all the film we have the soundtrack made by Hisaishi Joe that covers the apparent lack of communication. Yes, apparent. During the three quarters of the movie, in fact, we find a third view filming that portrays the young couple life as quite monotone and with no communication and emotions. We see the young boy trying to surf and the young girl watching him. We witness a love both tender and tragic. Incapable of being expressed. However, we will realize to have done a great mistake.
Indeed, as the music rises more intense, at the end of the movie we have a new character. The main one. As we realize, admiring the "Great Wave" engraved by Hokusai,that the wave stands as the subject, here we understand that the main character is the sea. This was the place in which the young couple meet and had fun, felt emotions and dreamed. In other word the only and real witness of their love. We were used to see only the routine of the two young guys but the sea not. He witnesses everything. And in the end, when everything seems to be finished without a great surprise, the sea has his turn to tell us the real love story between them. In a short sequence we see their emotions, their hopes and their happiness. We have in front of our eyes the remaining parts of their routine. A splendid one, made of hugs, laughs and smiles while enjoying a beer. And we cannot feel anything else than a lack. The one given of the love felt by those ones that only the sea in a summer can keep. Silently.