Vision

A fabled herb powerful enough to cure all sufferings of the human spirit draws a French journalist (Juliette Binoche) to the fog-enshrouded forests of Nara Prefecture. During her search within the lush landscape she meets several keepers of the forest: Tomo, and his blind senior Aki, who has begun sensing unusual shifts in the environment. As the herb’s once-in-a-millennium return approaches, Aki suddenly disappears—leaving Jeanne and Tomo to navigate increasing disturbances in their surroundings. Vision, true to its title, shines for Kawase’s powerful haptic visuality, as well as the modes of extralinguistic communication it affords her quietly focused characters in the film’s moving contemplation of human existence.

Streaming in the U.S. from December 3-23 as part of Flash Forward: Debut Works and Recent Films by Notable Japanese Filmmakers | Rent together with Kawase’s Suzaku for only $15!