The Inland Sea is a 1991 American travel documentary directed by Lucille Carra. It is inspired by the 1971 travelogue of the same title written by Donald Richie. In the documentary, filmmaker Carra undertakes a similar trip across the islands of Japan's Inland Sea as Richie did twenty years prior. Donald Richie narrates the film.

The Inland Sea
Blu-ray cover art for the Criterion Collection release
Directed byLucille Carra
Written byDonald Richie
Based onThe Inland Sea
by Donald Richie
Produced byBrian Cotnoir
Lucille Carra
Narrated byDonald Richie
CinematographyHiro Narita
Edited byBrian Cotnoir
Music byToru Takemitsu
Production
company
Travelfilm Company
Release date
  • November 1991 (1991-11)
Running time
56 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Japan
LanguageEnglish

The film won numerous awards, including Best Documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival (1991) and the Earthwatch Film Award. It was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992.[1]

Production

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American-born author Donald Richie primarily researched and wrote about the Japanese people and their culture. In 1971 he published The Inland Sea, a memoir of his travels across the isolated islands of the Seto Inland Sea to observe the way of life of the region's inhabitants. Twenty years later, documentary film director Lucille Carra intended to retrace his trip. The region was researched for a three-year period before filming began.

Reception

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Critical reception

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The film won the Best Documentary Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival and the Earthwatch Film Award. It screened at over forty film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival. It is in the permanent film collections at the Museum of Modern Art and the UCLA/Sundance Collection.

Home media

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The Inland Sea was released on LaserDisc in the United States on November 17, 1993 by the Voyager Company.[2] It was released on Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection in 2019.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Canby, Vincent (1992-06-17). "Review/Film; Searching for Japan, In a Sea, in a Mind And in Metaphor". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  2. ^ McGowan, Chris (November 6, 1993). "Letterbox Format's Popularity Widens" (PDF). Billboard. p. 73. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
  3. ^ The Inland Sea Blu-ray. Blu-ray.com.
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