The meditative visuals of Mountain Woman are slightly deceptive, as the Japanese film is really more of a painful personal drama. Poverty and a strict social hierarchy force Rin to flee her village and seek refuge in the woods, where she learns a valuable lesson about the power of nature.
Director and co-writer Takeshi Fukunaga was inspired by an old Japanese legend. “I believe the relationship between people and nature is unique in Japan. In the past, people treated nature as a central artistic theme and saw it as a manifestation of God,” said the director at the Drahomíra Cinema after the screening. “As a result, we used to treat the world around us with humility – but that humility has faded lately.” Perhaps this is why his ballad-like narrative, presented in the Horizons section at KVIFF, leads to a catharsis framed by striking images of landscapes, forests and mountains.
