41 Film: Water Children
In this acclaimed, hauntingly beautiful film, director Aliona van der Horst follows the unconventional Japanese-Dutch pianist Tomoko Mukaiyama as she explores the miracle of fertility and the cycle of life—sometimes joyful, sometimes tragic. When Mukaiyama recognized that her childbearing years were ending, she created a multimedia art project on the subject in a village in Japan, constructing what she calls a cathedral, out of 12,000 white silk dresses. While Mukaiyama’s own mesmerizing music provides a haunting backdrop to the film, her installation elicits confessions from its normally reticent Japanese visitors, many of whom have never seen art before—and in moving scenes they open up about previously taboo subjects. Mukaiyama’s courageous approach to a subject that remains unspoken in many cultures is explored with an elegance and sophistication that deepens our understanding of the relationship between body and mind. – From wmm.com
Films for this class are streamed through the HCC library’s portal. You may need to log in by using the same username/password you use for other services (such as logging into Canvas).
Consider this:
- What do you think of Mukaiyama’s “cathedral” of white silk dresses as “art” ?
- How does the music in the film contribute to the mood and story?
- Does art make it easier to explore taboo subjects? If so, why do you think that is?