Umi no Uta

I had stumbled across this title while browsing Anilist, the profile picture of it intrigued me. It's available to watch on Youtube. The entire film, which is 30 minutes long, consists of grainy black-and-white footage taking you through a small fishing town.

The drums and warbled cries of people resonate in the background. This is the first film of it's type I have ever seen, artsy and nonlinear. It has certainly made me curious regarding Kurosaka Keita's other works.

If you're interested in abstract horror, I would recommend this. There isn't really a "plot" presented in the way that traditional ... media would, and a lot of the content is up to the viewer to decipher and find what is meaningful to them. With the harsh black-and-white footage, it's difficult to make out what is being shown, and the brain will fill in the gaps for the viewer.

I kept imaging I was seeing faces in the walls, fish and human entrails on the floor, and the incoherent human noises made me anxious and scared. This film felt like I was being showed something that I wanted to see at first, but after a while, my curiosity waned but I was still to be forced to witness any, if they did actually occur here, atrocities against my will.

Of course, I did willingly watch this, but the contrast zooming in and out of the footage felt like whoever is walking through this village has been struck with intense curiosity, but keeps loosing their nerve to explore.

Warning, strobing effects