Still the Water

The seventh feature film of Japanese film maker Naomi Kawase “Still the Water” is her first to hit UK cinemas and boasts of captivating storytelling. The film tells the story of a teenage girl who falls in love with her neighbor, with whom she begins a troubled relationship. The boy’s parents divorce and his ethereally beautiful dying mother puts a toll on their courtship. The film gains momentum when the body of someone related to the boy washes up on the beach forcing the couple to re-evaluate their relationship with their parents and with each other. Though Kawase’s films have made their place in international festival circuit and especially at Cannes, they have also been under fire for being bland and smug. Still the Water could be precisely what may change the critics’ mind; Kawase’s distinctive serenity, transcendence of nature make it a unique Zen project that shows the dalliance of death and love.