A Scene at the Sea

Infobox Film | name = A Scene at the Sea


director = Takeshi Kitano
producer = Masayuki Mori
writer = Takeshi Kitano
starring = Claude Maki
Hiroko Oshima
Sabu Kawahara
Susumu Terajima
Katsuya Koiso
Testsu Watanabe
music = Joe Hisaishi
cinematography = Katsumi Yanagishima
editing = Takeshi Kitano
distributor = flagicon|Japan Office Kitano / Totsu
flagicon|South Korea EnterOne
released = October 19, 1991
runtime = 101 minutes
language = Japanese
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:210959
imdb_id = 0103704

nihongo|"A Scene at the Sea"|あの夏、いちばん静かな海|"Ano natsu, ichiban shizukana umi"|"That summer, the calmest ocean" is a 1991 Japanese film written and directed by Takeshi Kitano.

This movie was a break from previous Kitano fare in that it features no gangsters. Instead it presents a simple story about a deaf garbage collector, played by Claude Maki, who is determined to learn how to surf—and does so almost at the expense of the girl he loves.

Kitano's more delicate, romantic side came to the fore here, along with his trademark deadpan approach. In 2002 the Japanese filmmaker directed a similar movie, "Dolls", a romantic tale about three pairs of lovers.

Office Kitano talent Claude Maki, who plays the mute main character, went on to appear in Kitano's film "Brother" as Ken, a Japanese-American punk set to become leader of a Yakuza clan. In "Brother", Claude speaks mostly in American-English with some occasional Japanese.

This film marks the first collaboration between Kitano and composer Joe Hisaishi, who had previously created the acclaimed soundtracks of many of Hayao Miyazaki's anime, including "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind". Hisaishi has since composed the OSTs for all of Kitano's films except "Zatoichi".

External links

*imdb title|id=0103704|title=A Scene at the Sea