The ship Kaijin Maru is left adrift after losing all means of navigation in a storm. The four people on the ship are becoming increasingly desperate as food and water run out.
Direction
Shindō's suffocating framing traps you on that boat.
Acting
Taiji Tonoyama's unraveling is genuinely disturbing to witness.
Cinematography
Endless ocean horizons that mock rather than comfort.
Director
Kaneto Shindō
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shindō filmed on an actual decommissioned fishing vessel, and the cast lived on it for portions of production to capture genuine cabin fever.
Released during Japan's post-war economic anxiety, the film was read as allegory for a nation consuming itself.
JP
