Slow-moving, poetic outing for Takeshi Kitano, better known as Beat Takeshi. He forsakes the violence of his more popular films and instead delivers a warm, curious story about a deaf mute who develops a love of surfing. The characters are involving, the scenes are beautifully shot, and the score is magical - but for all that, this isn't an entire success, with a thin plot and a sense of pace which errs just a tad too much on the leisurely side. It's a welcome change to mindless shoot-em-ups, and an interesting addition to the Kitano canon, but it's not top-notch.
Review of A Scene at the Sea
