The Naked Island (1960)

 Kaneto Shindo's "The Naked Island"

I spend quite a bit of time watching films in my life. It doesn't happen frequently when a film will stop me dead in my tracks, as I typically have the 'seen it' mentality of most things I view. However, there are certain films that catch you off-guard. Kaneto Shindo's 1960 film "The Naked Island" is an example of a film that totally swept me off my feet.

The film centers on a small peasant family: a husband, a wife, and two sons. They are the only residents of a small island off the coast of Seto Inland Sea. We watch them through the cycling of an entire year. They repeatedly carry water for their potato plants up the island mountain. 

Beyond the simplicity of the film's plot, there is another element of the film that many will notice at some point during their watch. I noticed about halfway through the film that there is no dialogue. We are simply watching this family in silence as they work to keep their potatoes growing and cultivating. 

While this might seem gimmicky on paper, the execution of a dialogue-less peasant farming life was breathtakingly spiritual for me. It became even more of a spiritual experience after the peasants' lives are interrupted by an unforeseen tragedy. Their work and toiling is unrelenting and even in the face of difficulty, they must not arrest their mechanical execution of their existential purposes.

Because there is such a limitation on any verbal or auditory elements of the story, it seems to really heighten every little moment into something much more dramatic. The deliberately patient pacing of the story creates an underlying element of tension, something that could be akin to, say, Clouzot's "Wages of Fear." Although "The Naked Island" is not an action film by any means, every moment outside of the prescribed pacing feels like an enormous explosion to the senses.

I won't delve into the specifics of the events that unfold in the film, but the main takeaway for me on a thematic level might differ from others. To me, there is certainly a hard intensity to the work being done by the peasants and if one may assign that specification to all aspects of their life, one might come to the conclusion that the film is rather bleak and suffocating. These people can't escape their imminent tasks, making the entire scope of their life rather senseless.

However, I have taken a varying observation, despite objectively alignment with the previous sentiment. To me, there is a certain beauty and profound spiritual element to their labor. Although their efforts are laborious and difficult, there is a bee or antlike quality to their life. While this may turn off some who feel their lives are being wasted, I would argue their is a simplicity in succumbing to the labor of growth and dedication. Most of us are too distracted in the modern landscape to dedicate ourselves to labor and cultivation and the spiritual components that come from quiet isolation and being at one with natural order. There is almost of quiet peace to it. Because of this, the final moments feel as if they recollect their meaning and purpose. 

I understand the flipside analysis of this film: that their lives are hard and the can't escape the cycle of life. However, to me, the cycle of life is what is being instructed here. The family seems happy to be in tune with these cycles of life and when they face tragedy, they must remind themselves of these inevitable cycles. For me, this is why "The Naked Island" was such a spiritual experience.