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Kaneto Shindo's Naked Island tells the story of a small family unit and their subsistence as the only inhabitants of an arid, sun-baked island. Daily chores, captured as a series of cyclical events, result in a hypnotising, moving, and beautiful film harkening back to the silent era. With hardly any dialogue, Shindo combines the stark 'Scope' cinematography of Kiyoshi Kuroda with the memorable score of his constant collaborator Hikaru Hayashi, to make a unique cinematic document.

Filmed on the virtually deserted Setonaikai archipelago in south-east Japan, 'Naked Island' was made, in the words of its director, "as a cinematic poem to try and capture the life of human beings struggling like ants against the forces of nature". Kaneto Shindo, director of 'Onibaba' and 'Kuroneko', made the film with his own production company, Kindai Eiga Kyokai, who were facing financial ruin at the time. Using one-tenth of the average budget, Shindo took one last impassioned risk to make this film. With his small crew, they relocated to an inn on the island of Mihari where, for two months in early 1964, they would make what they considered to be their last film...

The BAFTA-nominated 'Naked Island' won the Grand Prix at Moscow International Film Festival (where Luchino Visconti was a jury member). It is now considered to be one of Shindo's major works and its success saved his film company from bankruptcy. This DVD is the first opportunity to own this film in the UK!

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