Mini-Review: A masterful wordless cinematic poem about a farming family on a remote Japanese island. The theme of humans being slaves to nature has never been so well-expressed as in the repeated scenes of the Sisyphean task of a man and his wife carrying heavy buckets of water up a steep hill, only to see the water evaporate in the sun as they pour it onto their crops. The music excels in absence of dialogue, which itself never feels like a stunt, merely a further reflection of the weariness of the family.

Mini-Review: The two main characters in this film inhabit such a tender and beautiful world that it is often easy to think of it as unrealistic, and yet those thoughts are the very reason why this film succeeds. It challenges preconceptions and makes you reconsider the innocence and joy available in life.