"Fukai kawa" (Deep River, 1995) like many works by director Kumai Kei is a massive, plaintative reflection of large themes. With this one, Kumai delves into the ideas of rebirth and reconciliation by means of depicting a gathering of different Asian religions. Japanese tour bus arrives in India carrying a group of pilgrims who do not know each other. Each has decided to embark on the journey because of different personal reasons, which are covered by flash-backs that form the bulk of the film. The film slides back and forth in time, and changes the perspectives, meaning to thus create a larger handling of the core themes. The potential is there, but it's never fully reached.
Like any Kumai film, this film requires patience from the audience. Maybe you could be so bold as to claim it requires intelligence from them, as Kumai for sure is a thinking man's director, and one whose output varies in quality. "Fukai kawa" as a viewing experience would benefit from the viewer also being somewhat familiar with the central concepts of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Shintoism, though much of course is explained through the film. Through its narrative stream, the film has a very timeless quality to it, and the depiction of the shores of Ganges is very multicultural as well. This is not to say that there aren't borders created by religion and language. Cinematography is mostly excellent and some scenes are crafted quite well.
But I would not consider this to be one of Kumai's better films. The problem lies in both the amount of ambition, and the chosen method of handling the narrative. The film is based on a book by Endô Shûsaku, a writer who would frequently cover the themes of religion and remembrance, and who was also the literary basis for Kumai's previous film "Umi to dokuyaku" (The Sea and Poison, 1986). I haven't read the novel, but Kumai's adaptation seems to have difficulty in grasping the essential from the source. His film is very broad, vast, diverse and wide-ranging. It does manage to show that the three central characters go through individual journeys of contemplation and we see character development through this. The beginning of the film, however, made me assume that Kumai was going for a larger statement about reconciliation and rebirth, secular world and sacred beliefs. For this purpose, his film is too loose, too vague and too all over the place as a narrative.
Still, it's considerably different from your average Japanese film. "Fukai kawa" actually ended up being the Japanese submission for the Oscar race that year, just as several earlier Kumai films had done. It was not one of the nominated films, but was critically well-received elsewhere. Kumai went on to direct three further films. For Mifune Toshiro, who had appeared in three previous Kumai films, this was the final performance. I would not recommend watching this purely for his presence, as his role is very limited.
