Owl
Fukurô
Japan
2003
119 Min
Color
Japanese
Synopsis
‘At the grand old age of 92, master filmmaker Shindo Kaneto (The Island, Onibaba) presents his 36th film. In a desolate, pioneer village in postwar northern Japan, a 37-year-old mother, Yumie (Otake Shinobu), and her 17-year-old daughter, Emiko (Ito Ayumi), live a solitary existence. Cultivation of these barren lands has proven to be an arduous task, and one by one the villagers have deserted their home in search of more accommodating surrounds, leaving only the two behind. One day, they begin to play host to a stream of visitors, including electricians, plumbers, and policemen, who come to visit the village upon the construction of a dam in the neighboring mountains. However, without exception, the men mysteriously vanish without trace; in fact, they have been murdered by the deceptively congenial Yumie and Emiko, who eventually pull off their own disappearing act. A year later, nine bodies are found buried in the village, but local officials decide to let the murders remain unsolved.’ – Japanese Film Database
Director
Kaneto Shindô
Japanese filmmaker/scriptwriter Kaneto Shindo’s most famous directorial efforts include The Island (1960), a nearly silent, but powerful glimpse at a lonely farmer’s daily toil, and Children of Hiroshima (1952), a wrenching and sentimental account of the city’s post-bomb aftermath. Shindo was born in Hiroshima and got his start in films as an art director during the late ’30s. Less than a decade later, he wrote his first screenplays and went on to work with a number of Japanese directors, including Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa. In 1950, Shindo was a co-founder of a production company. He made his directorial debut in 1951 with The Story of a Beloved Wife.
He was married to actress Nobuko Otowa (1925–1994), who appeared in several of his films. He won the 1996 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year for A Last Note.— allmovie guide
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