Still the Water

Still the Water

Film poster
Directed by Naomi Kawase
Produced by Rémi Burah
Takehiko Aoki
Masamichi Sawada
Naomi Kawase
Written by Naomi Kawase
Starring Nijiro Murakami
Jun Yoshinaga
Music by Hasiken
Edited by Tina Baz
Distributed by Asmik Ace
Release dates
  • 20 May 2014 (Cannes)
  • 26 July 2014 (Japan)
Running time
 110 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Still the Water (2つ目の窓 Futatsume no mado) is a 2014 Japanese romance film directed by Naomi Kawase. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[1] It has been selected to be screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[2]

Kawase has described the film as her "masterpiece", deserving of the Palme d'Or and states: "This is the first time that I have said this about a film. After the Camera d'Or and the Grand Prix, there is nothing I want more than the Palme d'Or. I have my eyes on nothing else."[3]

The film was taken in the scenic nature of Amami City, Amami Ōshima, in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan in 2013.[4] The music was produced by Hasiken,[5] a male singer-songwriter from Chichibu, Saitama.

Cast

Cast and crew at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Reception

Reviewing it at Cannes, Nikola Grozdanovic at Indiewire gave it a B+, stating that "'Still The Water' is a spectacle for the senses, which, if there is any justice, will be remembered as one of the greater films of the competition."[6] In The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw gave it 3 out of 5 stars and stated, "Kawase's film is sometimes beautiful and moving but I couldn't help occasionally finding it a little contrived and self-conscious."[7] In Film Business Asia, Derek Elley gave the film a rating of 2 out of 10, calling it "more empty, pretentious ramblings from self-styled auteur Kawase Naomi".[8]

References

  1. ↑ "2014 Official Selection". Cannes. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "TIFF Adds 'Clouds of Sils Maria' and 'Two Days, One Night,' Reveals 5 More Lineups". Indiewire. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Naomi Kawase: 'masterpiece' worth the Palme D'Or". Agence France-Presse. 2014-05-10.
  4. ↑ "Lecture on cinematography in Amami by director Kawase" (in Japanese). Amami Online. 2014-05-20.
  5. ↑ "News, HASIKEN official" (in Japanese). Hasiken. 2014-05-20.
  6. ↑ Grozdanovic, Nikola. "Cannes Review: Naomi Kawase’s 'Still The Water' Is A Spectacle For The Senses". Indiewire. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  7. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (20 May 2014). "Cannes 2014 review: Still the Water - come on in, the daughter's lovely". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Derek Elley (21 May 2014). "Still the Water". Film Business Asia. Retrieved 1 June 2014.

External links