The Naked Island

The Naked Island follows a family of four who live alone on a small, rocky island in Japan's Inland Sea. With no fresh water on the island, the parents must row back and forth to the mainland to fetch what they need to irrigate their small plots of crops. Their days are defined by this repeated labour, and the film shows little dialogue, relying on images and sparse sound to carry the story. When misfortune strikes the household, the family must endure it and carry on with their routine.

Kaneto Shindō wrote, produced and directed the film, which came after Wandering Shore and before Onibaba in his filmography. Nobuko Otowa plays Toyo and Taiji Tonoyama plays Senta, with Shinji Tanaka and Masanori Horimoto as the sons Taro and Jiro. It was made by Kindai Eiga Kyokai with TOHO and runs 97 minutes.

Audience response has been strong and consistent. On IMDb it holds 8 out of 10 from around 6,800 votes, and on TMDB it also stands at 8 out of 10, from a much smaller base of 153 votes. A critics' rating of 8.2 out of 10, drawn from seven reviews, sits close to those audience scores, suggesting the film has been received similarly by both groups.