The Crying Wind (2002)

In a village in Okinawa, people revere a skull belonging to a kamikaze pilot as a protective idol. When the wind blows, the hole in the side of the skull produces a ghostly sound. “The Crying Wind”, directed by Yoichi Higashi, has a mystical tone it. However, it fails to deliver as a result of so-so characterization. The film tries to weave the background of each character – Masahi and his mother Kazue, his best friend Akira, Akira’s grandfather Seikichi, and the dying old woman who turns out to be related to the owner of the skull – but it only happens in the last part of the film. There are also off characters such as Masahi’s father who suddenly appears near the end and the old man who owns the garden. These problems are largely attributed to the loose script by Shun Medoruma.