The Sea Is Watching

The Sea Is Watching
by Kei Kumai

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Movie Reviews of The Sea Is Watching

Movie Review: Delightful
Summary: 5 Stars

The film begins with the bright side of the district and their life, its gaiety, camaraderie and even tranquility. The setting and story are so delightful and cheerful that after a few minutes I was inspired to pause the DVD and go fix a cup of steaming ko-kei cha and a plate of tea biscuits. A young samurai, fleeing the law after a fight, begs to stay the night. They hide him, disguising him as a commoner customer of O-Shin's. After a chaste night, he leaves with gratitude and we can see on her face that she is taken with him. Miss cautions her against falling in love, and when he comes to see her O-Shin sends him away, saying never return, believing he is forever beyond reach. He is in exile from his father's house, and must go in disguise, yet he keeps returning as the seasons turn, being turned away. One day, though, O-Shin runs after him, meeting on a wintry bridge. The others debate her wisdom, but becoming convinced of his devotion, and particularly when in the spring he earnestly explains she can lose her 'fallen woman' status by remaining 'pure' for some time, they offer to take on her customers yet share the proceeds. Everyone expects something to come of this, and they are involved and hopeful, seeing hope for themselvers if only by proxy. Some reluctantly, some eagerly, they come to believe the fairy tale will really happen.

Needless to say it does not work out (that shouldn't be a spoiler .. what do you expect when it's all so happy a half hour into the film?), and the resolution of this first story is devastating to all.

O-Shin's very first customer after returning to work is a commoner Ryosuke who seems deeply troubled, and in the morning she wakes to find him crying and despondent. He flees precipitately, but returns in the evening, and tells her a sad tale of a hard life. Once again, O-Shin falls in love, and this time her compatriots are skeptical, but their relationship continues and grows.

The film ends with a giant storm, and floods both from the river and the sea. Much is washed clean (this is where the title comes from, the sea is watching over their troubles, and comes in to cover them over) and much comes clean amid the drama. I won't spoil the resolution, but suffice it to say that, as Miss says, O-Shin has "found a good one this time."

I have shorted the story of Miss, with her older gentlemanly lover and bad-boy Yakuza boyfriend, and her tales of being a fallen samurai with a child in a distant village, but she is almost equally important to the film though not so front and center as O-Shin, and becomes intimatly involved in the final resolution.

I at first was inclined to take away a "*" for some lapses in realism, particularly during the storm and flood (as portrayed it just didn't seem that deadly, particularly at the end), but when viewed as something between a filmed stage production and the realism (or hyper-realism) of a dramatic Hollywood production, as akin to the remarkable "Kwaidan", this objection vanishes. My remaining quibble is ... haven't these people ever heard of a bailing can?