A Deaf Trash Collector and Surfing in Japan

Here's an interesting movie that comes with subtitles.

Shigeru is the main character of the film. He is a young garbage collector who is deaf and mute. One day he finds a broken surf board in the garbage. After watching the surfers he starts to feel an uncontrolable desire for the sea. He takes the board home and fixes it as much as he can. After that point, surfing becomes the main thing in his life. He is ignored and laughed by the young & ignorant local surfers. But he gets all the support he needs by his symphatetic girlfriend who is also deaf and mute.

In this film, Kitano tells us about the surf scene in Japan. It is a western import in Japanese society which is favored by the youth in sea shore parts of the country. Kitano portrays the surf in a pure and realistic way but not without the the poetic and emotional camera work. Maybe waves are the best way to describe the Shigeru's inner feelings which Shigeru is unable to express to the out side world fully. He seems calm and relaxed on the outside but inside, a big fire burns for surfing and freedom.