A Scene at the Sea
Dir: Takeshi Kitano
1991
*****
I’ve been a follower of Takeshi Kitano’s films from the very beginning and each film reflects where he was at that point in time, where his direction was and how he felt about the world around him. In 1991, he took a swing away from violence and adopted a much softer approach. He has said that in retrospect that he intentionally shot violence to make the audience feel real pain and although he admits that as much as he hates violence, its nature fascinates him, like most things people fear can. In A Scene at the Sea Kitano makes a far more personal film that might simply look like a tale of strength in the face of adversity, but there is a little more to it than that. Kitano has long said in his films that life begins and ends at the sea, here we see a boy at a coastal crossroads. Our protagonist Shigeru is a deaf garbage collector, who comes across as rather distant and emotionless. One day he finds an old discarded surfboard in the rubbish and becomes determined to learn how to surf. His simple static shots and the somewhat deadpan approach are still present from his previous films but there is a newfound delicacy and romanticism here that came as something of a surprise. It bleeds into many of his later films but never seems as pure as it does in A Scene by the Sea. Most of Kitano’s film use extremities to dealer the message but here he is as subtle as he has ever been but the film is more ambiguous than it first appears. Shigeru’s girlfriend is also deaf in the film, the two are silent companions and it is clear that his girlfriend Takako is left to one side during his newfound passion. She continues to accompany him but it is clear that the pair are drifting apart. I don’t believe their deafness has anything to do with the story, as the adversity soon becomes meaningless and to me it feels that Kitano is suggesting we all find a way of holding ourselves back in some way or another and come up with excuses that have no relevance to what we want to achieve or venture towards. All of Kitano’s films are ambiguous to some level, A Scene at the Sea more than most as absolutely everything within the film can represent something else, all depending on who is watching. This is why it is so effective and seems to resonate more so with fans over Kitano’s other films. We know now that Kitano was going through many emotional changes around this time and his history of identity issues continues. He would experience a ‘subconscious suicide attempt’ soon after and his films would go on to form a different chapter in his career but A Scene at the Sea is certainly in the DNA of everything he’s made since. Except maybe Getting Any?, that is clearly him having a breakdown. Another thing that A Scene at the Sea represents is the first in a succession of collaborations with composer Joe Hisaishi. Hisaishi’s composition for A Scene at the Sea is sublime and accompanies the film perfectly. The world of cinema has, in my opinion, had few greater collaborations than Takeshi and Hisaishi, they are the eyes and ears of the same genius. I adore all of Kitano’s films, Sonatine and Hana-Bi are probably my favourites but A Scene at the Sea is his forgotten masterpiece.