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The Naked Island



Director Kaneto Shindo's documentary-like, dialogue-free portrayal of daily struggle is a work of stunning visual beauty and invention. The international breakthrough for one of Japan's most innovative filmmakers—who went on to make such other marvelous movies as Onibaba and Kuroneko—The Naked Island follows a family whose home is on a tiny, remote island off the coast of Japan. They must row a great distance to another shore, collect water from a well in buckets, and row back to their island—a nearly backbreaking task essential for the survival of these people and their land. Featuring a phenomenal modernist score by Hikaru Hayashi, this is a truly hypnotic experience, with a rhythm unlike that of any other film.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New, high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Video introduction by director Kaneto Shindo, recorded for a 2011 retrospective of his work
• Audio commentary recorded in 2000, featuring Shindo and composer Hikaru Hayashi
• New appreciation of the film by actor Benicio Del Toro
• New interview with film scholar Akira Mizuta Lippit
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Haden Guest

Any idea what Benicio Del Toro's relationship to the film is?

I dunno, but I hope he does the interview in-character as Sauncho Smilax.

Google search indicates it's one of his favorite films, and he's either programmed it/introduced it/interviewed Shindo several times for various screenings.

I'm guessing they just knew he liked the movie and had the chance to get some of his time. Sort of like Paul Giamatti's seemingly random appearance in the extras on The Naked Prey.

PfR73 wrote:Google search indicates it's one of his favorite films, and he's either programmed it/introduced it/interviewed Shindo several times for various screenings.

Correct. He selected it to screen at L.A.'s Cinefamily a few years ago and I believe he even payed for a new 35mm print or chipped in towards its restoration.

Does anyone else know why Lucie Carra's The Inland Sea Voyager-era documentary from the Donald Richie book was not included with Naked Island release? Is it really likely that "Inland" would get its own spine?

I'm very surprised by the lack of The Inland Sea as a supplement. Lucille Carra has had a phantom page for quite a while (https://www.criterion.com/people/122756-lucille-carra" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). As the doc is only an hour long, I'd be surprised if it gets its own spine. Is there anything else notable it can be paired with for a coherent release?

DeprongMori wrote:I'm very surprised by the lack of The Inland Sea as a supplement. Lucille Carra has had a phantom page for quite a while (https://www.criterion.com/people/122756-lucille-carra" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). As the doc is only an hour long, I'd be surprised if it gets its own spine. Is there anything else notable it can be paired with for a coherent release?

Man, this is a hard film to find. I cannot locate it despite checking all the usual above- and underground channels. Ridiculous.

I like the idea of bringing in a celeb to champion one of their favorite films, but Del Toro comes off as a pretty surface level viewer and his insights are slim here, though I did enjoy hearing him say the word "funky"

I mostly liked it as the Man of Aran sort of film it is, but man is that score awful, repetitious, and just overused. It is almost as if Shindo was terrified to allow silence in his film. The score only seems to cut off when he wants to announce something noisy which pretty consistently undermines the moment like the drop and resulting violence about a third of the way through the movie. What a silly way to hurt your movie.

I loved the score - I thought the repetition was entirely in keeping with the theme of repetitious labour. I can see how it could be seen as sentimental, but not overly so for me, properly so as the theme of these people, of their lives, some sentiment but simple beauty, but not dwelling on itself as beauty. A poetic rhythm of life.

I found the drop and violence hard to take, didn't notice effect of music on that, but yes, hard in this day and for me, but maybe true and if the music is interrupted or affected by that, would ave to check now, then rightly so.

But won't say more here, have to admit it was the MoC blu ray I saw. No easter egg, as far as I can see, but will go there to say anymore than that. I have Onibaba to watch. Know nothing of his other films (other than Kuroneko).

I'm also a fan of the score.