Shiofuki ama/Comments
From The Grindhouse Cinema Database
- If these Nikkatsu films are anything to go by, Japanese ama girls spend a lot of time topless... and now I regret I didn’t visit pearl island when in Japan. I also regret I wasted my time on this worthless meisaku roman film. It looks alright on paper, but only on paper. The screenwriter, Masayasu Daikuhara, also scripted another pearl diving film, Shikijo ama midare tsubo, which featured some interesting character relationships. The cinematography is by Nobumasa Mizunoo who has taken part in making many good films like Chusei Sone’s psychological drama Red Classroom and Shinji Somai’s cute youth pic Tonda Couple. Assistant director Naosuke Kurosawa later went to helm a stylish, giallo influenced thriller Zoom In: Rape Apartments. But in Shiofuki ama none of the talent is visible. Acting is dull, storyline non-existent and cinematography uninspired. A weird flaw is that the subject, pearl diving and ama girls, is not really exploited (well, maybe the girls are, but...) as some Einstein came up with an idea to set 90% of the film indoors. The decent music and occasional nice landscapes are the only potential reasons not to fall asleep while watching this film. --HungFist
