Inland Sea Review:

The devastating look about an aging community in "Inland Sea". Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing.

Wai Chan: “It’s impossible to keep going. People quit. Children don’t want to take over. They don’t want it."

The beauty about documentaries is just how compelling they can be with the style of filmmaking in general. I have always enjoyed watching documentaries because viewing real time events is incredibly fascinating for myself. It’s like watching life unfold before your very eyes. In the case of watching documentaries about other countries and putting the spotlight on the people who live there is even more captivating. I always learn something from these kinds of documentaries and continually look forward to what each one brings. In the case for Inland Sea (2018), the film is about an aging community in Japan that lives right by the coast. The setting for the film plays the biggest part in telling its narrative. While the film will sometimes just show residents in unbroken takes, this film truly is worth your time.

Kumiko Komiyama, a resident of Ushimado talks about her struggles of getting older in this community in "Inland Sea". Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing,

Inland Sea is about, as I stated before, a community that lives off the shore in Ushimado, Japan. Here the residents are aging, restless, respectable and hard-working people who want to see their beloved community flourish and carry onward. The film is divided into multiple sections and puts the spotlight on various individuals for a decent portion of time. There is a fisherman, Wai Chan, who is nearing the age of 90, but still continues to do the job since no one wants to be a fisherman anymore due to its consequences and financial struggles one must endure with the occupation. There are people who buy the fish, clean them and sell them amongst the community. That entire process is captured so audiences can see just how tiring and busy one day can be for these residents. We see others take care of stray cats, look after the decaying graveyard that everyone has apparently abandoned.

Wai Chan, an elderly fisherman talks about the challenges of fishing in "Inland Sea". Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing.

What I find most devastating here is how the filmmaker, Kazuhiro Sôda, gives the films cinematography a beautiful and stunning black and white look into this elderly community. It gives the images more meaning because it is connecting the audience with these older residents who have not been able to find comfort or contentment as they got older. Most people don’t work until they are 90, which gives this documentary the benefit that I did not see coming. Sôda even shows himself as a character too, asking the residents great questions and letting them answer and discuss about the community along with their roles with the town of Ushimado.

Plus, Sôda makes the film become a more fleshed out narrative with a controlled theme. That is what makes this documentary work as a film is that for the beginning portion with the elderly fisherman, Wai Chan, showing how much work and expensive the job is, to where he sells the fish at the factory, one could sense the direction being about the fish and potentially Ushimado’s importance of having fish for the residents, but then the film takes a unusual direction. When Sôda travels with the buyers of the fish, he comes across various residents. And three residents that stand out the most to myself that help give the film more an effective emotion of desolation.

Wai Chan is also seen in the process of catching fish and making various nets in "Inland Sea". Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing.

There are two residents near the middle portion of the film that show their respect and care for the stray cats that live in Ushimado. Ever since the beginning, the community never enjoyed having the cats around, but with age and depression, these cats have provided a sense of comfort and happiness for these elderly residents. And with the catching of many fish, cleaning of them and the disbursing of the fish comes the remains of them as well. These caretaking residents go down to the local store where the fish are cleaned and sold to collect fish guts and remains. They bring them back to their home, cook the remains, put them in rice and give to all of the stray cats in their area, which is quite a few. This little contained moment provides much cheerfulness for any viewer because the entire time leading up to this point, the film tells the story of how this town is just slowly dying. The side story with the cats gave me the biggest smile and had me in a complete bliss due to how this little moment carried so much emotion and is incredibly effective.

Along with the caretakers of the stray cats, comes a caretaker of ancestry tombstones up the hill in Ushimado. Sôda quickly runs to this woman who speed walks past him while visiting with the caretakers of the stray cats, he meets up with her at the gravesite and discusses her significance in this narrative. She comes up to the graveyard to check on her ancestors, who were also fishermen too, and it has been awhile since anyone has gone up there to check on the graves. The cemetery is becoming deserted and no one keeps it up to date, to the point where the resident points out how tombstones have gotten moved around, showing just how little most care about this part of the town. Again, this little moment shows a sign of optimism from the resident because she wants younger generations to carry on the traditions and maintenance for this community at this gravesite.

Stray cats run wild in the town of Ushimado, Japan, in "Inland Sea". Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing.

Lastly, the resident that the film concludes on, Kumiko Komiyama (1929-2015), is the one portion that gives Inland Sea its name more meaning. Komiyama comes near the beginning of the film, describing Wai Chan and how she is not much of a fan of his because he is essentially the star of Ushimado. But then when Sôda comes back to the shoreline to revisit Wai Chan later on in the film, Komiyama then becomes the star. She talks to her longtime friend, whose friend struggles with her own family and children, that the younger generations don’t really care about this town anymore. Komiyama talks about her life journey and how she does not even know if she’s Japanese since she was adopted at such a young age.

Komiyama leads Sôda around the town to two locations, the first being an old school turned hospital, and then to a friend’s home to drop off fish. When Komiyama leads Sôda to the hospital, she then talks more about her life and about her only son. Her son lost his sight and then he was taken away from her. She talks about this story in lengthy detail, describing how the people who took her son away definitely abused him. Komiyama discusses how she is the only one that can visit him as well, leading to a discussion that I didn’t see coming, which was the idea of suicide. Komiyama battled so much adversity in her lifetime that when her only son was taken away, she contemplated the idea of suicide to end the despair. She talks about how good it would feel to end all things because it’s been in constant despondency this whole time.

Kumiko Komiyama talks about the struggles and tensions between both older and younger generations, and how there is some hope but not much for the town of Ushimado in "Inland Sea". Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing.

Komiyama then leads Sôda to her friend’s house to drop off some fish, which then come to find out they were not home. Komiyama then discusses her disappointment because she wanted Sôda to meet this friend of hers. As they walk back to the shoreline where the film concludes, Komiyama points out the various homes and the abandonment from the community. Saying that many of the residents have passed away, but their homes still remain. No one touches them or buys them to live in. At this point in the film, one senses just how much left is remaining of this extremely beautiful town. Sôda shows immaculate filmmaking by giving us shots of the sea and the hills of this town. Komiyama says she knows she does not have much time left on this earth, and Sôda gives her the spotlight to tell her story and provides a haunting conclusion that left me speechless and in a world of thoughts.

The filmmaking on display is quite moving and exceptionally well done. Sôda proves that he is capable of making a successful documentary through masterful camerawork and editing. The black and white gave the film a distinctive look into this deserting town and helps give a nostalgia feeling through the various stories these residents told to this filmmaker. Inland Sea soars due to this brilliant filmmaking and when the credits come, the melancholy shots of Ushimado at night with no one around left me in chills. It left me wondering about my hometown and what maybe I should do to keep the traditions going there. I believe this documentary is one that everyone should watch just because it shows people, in real time, in the stage of desertion, just how dreadful it is. But the film is quickly pointing out that the little things, like feeding stray cats or putting new flowers in by a tombstone can make the difference. And Sôda leaves us with a transition from black and white to color, making it seem like there is hope left, but that is left to the viewer and the younger generations to make that change happen.

Rating: A-

Run Time: 2 Hours 2 Minutes