“The Sea Is Watching”

By David DiCerto
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- A young Japanese woman yearns to escape her life as a geisha and find true love in "The Sea Is Watching" (TriStar).

Directed by Kei Kumai from a script by legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, this poetic film is a bittersweet fairy tale about the transforming power of love and the inherent dignity of humans no matter what their station in life. On a more prosaic level, it also offers commentary on the oppressive plight of women during the historical period in which the film takes place.

The tale, set in Edo-period Japan -- pre-1868 -- centers on O-Shin (Nagiko Tohno), a forlorn geisha working the red-light district in the quaint seaside town of Okabasho. Life in the brothel is emotionally barren. O-Shin longs to find someone who will look past her sullied reputation and see the purity of her heart, a romantic bubble Kikuno (Misa Shimizu), one of the older, more pragmatic geisha, is quick to burst, advising her to dismiss such wishful notions and "always make sure you get paid."

O-Shin thinks she has found the soul mate she has been searching for when she saves a sensitive young samurai's life only to have her heart crushed when he marries a more "respectable" woman. Yet love will not be denied, taking the form of Ryosuke (Masatoshi Nagase), a weary and troubled customer with a shadowy past, who like O-Shin is deeply wounded and in need of love's healing balm.

While some may be put off by the sympathetic, almost family-like portrayal of the brothel, viewers must take into account the cultural milieu, realizing that geisha -- who were versed in social graces and the art of conversation, as well as being used for sexual gratification -- were an acceptable component of the society in which they existed. This, of course, typifies the hypocrisy inherent in many male-dominated societies. Japanese men could employ the services of these prostitutes without blemish to their reputation, whereas the women themselves were considered "fallen."

While its deliberate pacing and, at times, melodramatic acting may not translate well with Western audiences, the film has hauntingly evocative visuals skillfully crafted like elegant Japanese calligraphy. Kumai, in keeping with Kurosawa, uses nature itself as a pivotal character in the unfolding narrative. The changing seasons and tides play as integral a role as any of the human actors, especially at the climax, when the angry sea literally liberates O-shin from her loneliness -- O-Shin is rescued by the ocean.

Oddly, Kurosawa, who directed such cinematic masterpieces as "The Seven Samurai" and "Rashomon," chose at the end of his career -- this was his final screenplay -- to write a story with a woman as the central character, a marked digression from the dearth of female leads in his previous body of work.

Subtitles.

Due to sexual encounters with partial nudity, a rape and some violence, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted.

* DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.