Ichikawa’s lengthy career was a sprawling, eclectic one. He seemed to throw himself at every and any sort of project (sometimes within the same film, with very mixed results) and some of his famous classics like The Burmese Harp and Fires on the Plain feel overrated now. But Alone Across the Pacific – which, to be honest, I’ve never heard of before (the same goes for MoC’s other Ichikawa release, Kokoro) — is a fine film. It’s the straightforward story of Kenichi Horie, who had sneaked out of Japan (it was apparently illegal for small boats to leave the country) to make the first Japanese solo crossing of the Pacific in 1962; Ichikawa made the film the following year. If the details in Ichikawa’s portrayal of the journey are pretty much what you’d expect — boredom, loneliness, storms, sudden mishaps, a near encounter with a shark – , the success of the film rests on two aspects of Ichikawa’s treatment. The potential monotony of each stage of the boat trip is nicely broken up a stream of flashbacks detailing Horie’s background and his preparations for his crossing; and Ichikawa is constantly inventive in composing within his ’Scope frame. The character of Horie himself lends itself to a wider critique of Japanese society. His self-absorbed obsession with sailing is also a rejection of materialist values, an individualistic refusal to conform to what is expected of him by society, let alone by his family. Which is the point of the film’s low-key and satisfying final scene, when, after his epic trip, Horie ignores his family’s phone call from Japan — and just sleeps.
by Ian Johnston | Source: Eureka!/Masters of Cinema DVD
21 Apr 2009 2:14 PM | Submit Comment
