To Kawase Naomi, nature is most closely intertwined with human life. In Still the Water, nature is a source of mystery and constant influence on humanity. It is also always there in life and death. In a small island village in Amami, high school student Kaito lives alone with his mother. His close friend Kyoko’s mother Isa is fighting cancer. Isa returns home from the hospital to die among her family. Kaito is worried that his mother is having an affair but is relieved to find out that she is safe after a typhoon. Still the Water is basically a story about death. Kawase talks about death that turns to nature for comfort. When Isa is facing death, the villagers send her off with song and dance. Their thoughts and lifestyle is to thoroughly adjust to nature. To them, death is part of the natural cycle. At the moment of death, Isa calls out “mother” as the leaves sway in the wind. Perhaps the wind is her mother. Kawase’s film deepens our awe of nature. (KIM Ji-seok)