Alone Across the Pacific: The Masters of Cinema Series

Introduction

Alone Across The Pacific is based on the true story of Horie Kenichi who, in 1962, sailed his tiny yacht, The Mermaid, from Osaka to San Francisco, breaking the Japanese law at the time which forbade small vessels from leaving Japan.

Condensing his three month journey into under 100 minutes, Kon Ichikawa uses voiceover and flashback to show why Horie wanted to leave, how his parents and sister reacted and the meticulous (and clandestine) preparations that went into undertaking such a voyage. Showing the lows, of which there are many, and highs of the journey, Ichikawa doesn't so much show the reality of crossing such a vast expanse of water but explores what it is to be human.

Video

The film is stunningly photographed but some of the long shots are a little disappointing with more grain and dirt than the close ups. The interior shots really capture the claustrophobia of living inside a 19' yacht and the extraordinary difficulties that Horie went through in the early stages of his voyage. Ichikawa makes use of very wide shots and aerial footage to show the tiny boat on the sea - it wasn't entirely faked in a studio's water tank!

Audio

There's no surround option, the film was shot with a mono soundtrack, so you don't get the speakers rumbling with the wind, rain and waves as The Mermaid stand up to everything that nature throws at her. The only soundtrack is the original Japanese mono which has some hiss throughout but the sound is clear and the subtitles are easy to read and free of spelling and grammatical errors.

Extra Features

All there is on the disc are newly subtitled trailers: the original Japanese theatrical trailer and two teasers but the DVD comes with a very nice 24 page booklet with an informative essay by Brent Kliewer and a two page piece on the actor Ishihara Yujiro by Tony Rayns.

Conclusion

I imagine it would be hard to make a film about a man who crossed the Pacific single handed in a boat he made on a shoestring budget anything other than interesting and engrossing. Kon Ichikawa does this and does it very well, showing the mundane, the terrifying and the everyday amusements of such an undertaking, breaking up the voyage with constant flashbacks to an oppressive Japan where a free-spirit like Horie simply does not fit in.

There are amusing episodes such as when, stuck in Osaka harbour with no wind to assist him, Horie displays a lantern to make his presence known but is so scared of being caught by the authorities that he keeps hiding it inside his waterproof top. The film also documents the painstaking preparation, scrolling down a list that contains everything Horie thinks he needs for the journey, showing the items on the other side of the screen - it's a wonder that he managed to fit everything in the boat.

This is a tremendous film, gripping though you know the ending and a great watch from start to finish. Along with Kokoro and The Burmese Harp, this is gaining its first UK release as part of a planned Kon Ichikawa trio by the Masters of Cinema Series and is an extremely welcome one at that. He truly was a master of cinema and I'm glad to have been made aware of his work.