The Sea is Watching
Director Kei Kumai died in May of 2007 from a cerebral hemorrhage. The last film he directed was The Sea is Watching, a film written by the master Akira Kurosawa and based on a novel by Shugoro Yamamoto. The Sea is Watching, or The Sea Was Watching from the literal translation, was released in Japan in June of 2002 and is a sweeping epic melodrama. It features performances by Misa Shimizu, Nagiko Tono, Masatoshi Nagase, and Hidetaka Yoshioka.
The film takes place in the 19th century. It follows the story of Oshin (Tono), who is a prostitute in a brothel in a sort of “red-light district” in a village. Many people assume Oshin and her friends are geishas, but they are not. Instead, Oshin lives a very unfortunate existence and yet has the power to rise above many of the shortcomings of her life to enjoy a rather happy existence with her friends and with her various customers. Oshin is known for falling in love with her customers, rather frequently, and The Sea is Watching zeros in on two of these “love” relationships in particular to highlight the giving and kind nature of Oshin, even in cases when such love is not returned.
Oshin would best be described in modern terms as being horribly naive, yet she is relatively comfortable in the roller-coaster that her life appears to take. She gives herself frenetically to her customers, often offering up money or security to those she falls in love with and having little regard for the safety of herself as a result. Oshin, when we first meet her, is shielding a young samurai (Yoshioka) who has been disgraced as the result of a drunken fight. She shields him from his pursuers and helps him regain his footing in society, falling in love with him along the way. One night, the samurai tells Oshin that she can regain her purity by not taking on any further customers. The other prostitutes at the brothel, including the mistrusting but mothering Kikuno (Shimizu) help Oshin by working her customers for her and giving her the money. This display of generosity highlights the friendships these girls have.
Without saying how, the situation deteriorates for Oshin and she finds herself back to basics and taking on customers again. Broken-hearted, Oshin begins a relationship with a desperate and suicidal man, Ryosuke (Nagase). This relationship is represented by the fact that it appears to be rather co-dependent. Ryosuke represents a sort of loose cannon type character to Oshin, while Oshin represents stability to Ryosuke and gives him something to live for. The relationship continues on and, meanwhile, Kikuno enters into troubles of her own with an older abusive customer. This entanglement is pressured further by the looming storm and everything is thrust into further chaos. The Sea is Watching illustrates the chaotic nature of life through the storm as the film draws to a close, forcing hard choices out of each character.
The Sea is Watching is a very vibrant film, captured with lots of colour and through eloquent, patient direction from Kei Kumai. It would have been interesting to see how Kurosawa would have directed this project, as his components are virtually all over this picture. Kurosawa made special points in The Sea is Watching to involve women as the heroines here and to create a special relationship between these characters. Most of the men in the film are rather despicable and deplorable, making for an interesting dichotomy as the women in the brothel fend for themselves and battle the elements with love and resolve for one another.
The film also features some good performances, especially that of Misa Shimizu, the actress playing the role of Kikuno. She plays Kikuno as a broken but alive woman with lots of life experience and lots of unanswered questions. As she is abused by an older customer and wooed by another, it becomes clear that Kikuno often struggles against herself in terms of finding a will to combat what is obviously poor treatment. She, like others, appears to not know what to do in the face of the abuse and does not reach for help. Instead, Kikuno simply endures it, like she endures the storm and the rising waters. Shimizu plays her with a tender toughness, as she uses her personal experiences to ensure that Oshin doesn’t make the same mistakes but yet seems unclear as to how to free herself. This makes for some tender moments, especially towards the conclusion of the film.
The Sea is Watching is a film about the women of the brothel. It contains a meandering storyline and the events that occur as plot devices, while often distracting, are not the central components to Kumai’s film. Instead, this is Kurosawa’s tender vision of women and heroism in a different form. The film also features a lot of style and elegance from the characters, making it a beautiful film to look at for various reasons. The performances are good overall, with a few rough patches involving some of the supporting characters. Overall, however, The Sea is Watching is a gentle meditation on troubled women and the suffering that takes place in order to overcome the odds of a less fortunate life.
Trailer:
