The Sea Is Watching (2002)

"A flower once bloomed will hold to the vine, while a bud will fall."

Kurosawa Akira worked on this script but didn't live to film the story. The Sea Is Watching seemed far from his usual comfort zone as it was woman centric and heavy on romance. You'd have to go back to just after WWII to see him tread so heavily into romantic territory. Director Kumai Kei picked up his mantel and made the film, but it felt far from the Kurosawa films most of us are familiar with.

The film centers around a brothel and a young prostitute named Oshin. She has a big heart and a bad habit of giving it away to the wrong men. Kikuno is an older prostitute with an older suitor who wants her to come live with him. Stopping her is a violent yakuza lover who thinks he owns her and uses her earnings to pay off bad debts. The young women stick together and support one another through their ups and downs. After a bad romance, Oshin falls hard for a destitute man who is ready to end his life. He will play a key role when a torrential storm churns up the sea and the nearby river sending flood waters toward the town.

The cinematography and sets were beautiful and the colorful kimonos stunning. The acting seemed overwrought at times as the younger thespians weren't as polished as the more experienced actors. Shimizu Misa grounded the young oiran with a more reserved performance.

This film played like a melodramatic slice of life on the wrong side of the bridge as the women dealt with the caste system, love, heartache and dangerous clients. The middle bogged down making an already long film feel longer. However, the ending gave the film the emotional weight it desperately needed when one person showed the true samurai spirit in a moment of love and sacrifice with the pure-heart of a warrior.

9/9/23

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