JOURNEY TO THE SHORE

Yusuke drowned in the ocean three years ago. But one day, he reappears in the middle of Japan, more specifically in the life of his strangely unsurprised wife, Mizuki, a piano teacher, who he invites on a journey through villages and rice paddies. On their journey, there is no confrontation; there are, rather, opportunities to rebuild their bond and meet others who, like him, are still wandering. What they will find at the end is, perhaps, eternal peace. In this adaptation of Kazumi Yumoto’s novel Journey to the Shore, Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Tokyo Sonata, Kaïro) rediscovers his beloved ghosts but abandons the scary and fantastical for a melodrama founded on a rock-solid belief in love that endures beyond the grave; the result is a relaxed road movie. It turns out to be a worthwhile move, because Journey to the Shore is a delicate and subtle exploration of the most beautiful aspects of nature and humanity. Winner of the screenwriting award, Un Certain Regard, Cannes 2015.