Journey to the Shore
Three years after his disappearance, Yusuke (Tadanobu Asano) returns home one night to his wife Mizuki (Eri Fukatsu) who is initially unphased by his sudden reappearance. Disclosing to her that he is indeed dead, Yusuke asks Mizuki to accompany him on a journey to see “beautiful places” and guides her to the people and places he encountered on his return voyage to her. As they travel, the pair confront the unresolved feelings and pent-up emotions they never had the chance to reconcile. An unconventional ghost story, Kurosawa’s tender melodrama is a lyrical rumination on dealing with grief and the inevitable parting of ways.
- Winner, Un Certain Regard Award for Best Director, 2015 Cannes Film Festival
- Selected as the tenth best film of 2015 by Cahiers du Cinéma
“There are passages in this film that are so exquisitely tuned and delicately heartbreaking that they seem to have been experienced and remembered rather than seen on a movie screen.” —Film Comment
“[Kurosawa] here displays a incredibly subtly tonal range, segueing almost imperceptibly from intonations of melancholy art house to horror film, comedy, low key rural drama, and sentimental romance.” —Mubi
“Journey to the Shore is more wistful and plaintive than strictly unnerving, with an emotional force that edges in like an afternoon shadow.” —The New York Times
Streaming in the U.S. from February 5-25 as part of 21st Century Japan: Films from 2001-2020