Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34256 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-07-25
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Subtitled, PAL
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

DVD Description
Filmed on the virtually deserted Setonaikai archipelago in south-east Japan, Naked Island was made — in the words of its director — "as a 'cinematic poem' to try and capture the life of human beings struggling like ants against the forces of nature". Kaneto Shindo, director of Onibaba (MoC #13) and Kuroneko (MoC #14), made the film with his own production company, Kindaï Eiga Kyokai, who were facing financial ruin at the time. Using one-tenth of the average budget, Shindo took one last impassioned risk to make this film. With his small crew, they relocated to an inn on the island of Mihari where, for two months in early 1964, they would make what they considered to be their last film.

Special Features
Newly restored transfer • Full-length audio commentary by Kaneto Shindo and Hikaru Hayashi • Optional English subtitles • Production stills gallery • 16-page booklet with a new essay by Acquarello, and a reprint of Joan Mellen's interview with Shindo from Voices from the Japanese Cinema. • Plus more!

Synopsis
A small family are the only inhabitants on an arid, desolate island. This feature tells the story of their day-to-day life.

Customer Reviews

fantastic restoration
Masters of Cinema and Eureka deserve special kudos for this release -- the film looks absolutely wonderful. The lush black and white photography is reporduced gloriously, as is the beautiful soundtrack. The introduction by Alex Cox and the full-length commentary by director Shindo and composer Hayashi are well-done and will deepen the viewers' appreciation and understanding of this masterpiece.

The lack of dialogue and other social-realist stylistic aspects of this film will make it not everyone's cup of tea -- it's certainly not going to hold the attention of action-film buffs -- but the director and cinematographer have done a masterful job in conveying in depth all of the aspects of the lives of the characters. Repeated images echo the rhythms of life, the dogged march of time, the cycles of the seasons and years. All ranges of emotion are portrayed -- joy, sorrow, determination in the face of terrible odds, pain, hard work, rewards, devotion. Alex Cox mentions Bresson in his introduction -- and I can certainly see the parallels with his work.

This film is an essential addition to my library -- I recommend it highly, and I'm grateful to those who have made it available.

Early Shindo
Anyone who enjoys the primal erotic horror of “Onibaba” (& who doesn’t?) might be tempted by this earlier Shindo film. But beware. “The Naked Island” is totally different. It’s a social realist movie documenting a poor farming family as they eek out an existence on a tiny southern Japanese island, occasionally venturing onto mainland coastal villages & towns to sell their wares. There’s almost no dialogue, just lush music, but the film is very beautifully shot & skilfully put together, gradually drawing the viewer in and, when tragedy strikes the family, the effect is undeniably very moving.
This type of humanist cine-poem was in vogue internationally in the late 50s/early 60s & “The Naked Island” won lots of film festival awards, but such movies can seem quite dated – this mix of realism with lyricism & pathos is certainly open to criticism.
However, Japanophiles will find the scenes of now vanished village life fascinating & fans of Japanese cinema will find the movie historically interesting.
Eureka’s “Masters of Cinema” series has done a great job with this: a restored print, a short but interesting intro from Alex Cox, plus a booklet with essays & reprints of Joan Mellon’s Shindo interview. Last but not least there is also a complete version of the film accompanied by audio commentary (fully subtitled) from the now 90 year old director!