I've thought about this film a lot in the past year since I first saw it. Softly steps on very big subjects. Dealing with the universe, aliens, mysterious illnesses and ecological concerns, it could so easily be schlocky and ineffectual. Ishii captured the essence of a Pure Moods tape and transforms it into an engaging tranquil science fiction narrative. It tells a story mostly in the form of sounds, textures and a dream-like atmosphere. Giving details only when completely necessary; truly an immersive film experience. He creates a magical environment using only visuals present in reality. No crazy effects, just the transcendental cosmic beautify of what exists in nature.

Full Review and a link to download the score on Atomic Caravan...

atomiccaravan.blogspot.com/2016/02/august-in-water-1995.html

First movie of the year! I'm familiar with Sogo Ishii's cyberpunk efforts, but was totally blown away by this polar opposite New Age teen romance. Transcendence, dolphin speak, eerie alien soundtrack. Literally, Seapunk: the Movie. I think I've set the bar for the rest of the year.

This basically hits 95% of my narrative concerns, is pretty aesthetically gorgeous, and has a fucking amazing score. Hypnotic and languid, ennui squeezes out of every frame, this is so unbelievably fantastic.

jeezbus it's so disarmingly gorgeous and soothing.. i had two little mouths instead of eyes and someone was pouring divine nectar into them for 2 hours

had to put out a cigarette.. felt dirty or smtng, compared to the pure characters and ideas from this

longing for more flowing water in films..
and in me,
literally and metaphorically

Despite its obsession with pre-millennial new-age concerns, this generically diverse oddity somehow manages to be both transcendental and scientific. It's ostensibly about a teenage girl who gains supernatural powers after an accident and comes to understand her place in the larger scheme of things. Largely driven by mood, texture and dreams, it's a challenging yet highly rewarding piece of work.

A ponderous film filled with solemn brooding by stony-faced people, but the cinematography was gorgeous, and the score and central theme helped to build a hypnotic and eerie sense of dread. It was at times fascinating, and at others cumbersome, but I was rather fond of the ending.

M  A  S  T  E  R  P  I  E  C  E

It's all pretty lovely for the most part, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't moderately underwhelmed. Perhaps my expectations were too high and I had painted a picture of this film in my mind that was far too arresting and beautiful for it to ever fully reach reach such heights upon actually watching it. I suppose I was just prepared for something a lot more texture- & mood-based than this felt to me, something that would just wash over, wash through me, but other than the uniqueness of the overall narrative itself, the way it was actually told/presented wasn't all that interesting (in my opinion) and was maybe a little too slowly paced. However, there was a montage early on of divers at a competition, where the editing and score in conjunction with the imagery made the sequence just absolutely divine, heavenly bodies in ecstatic collage, flying through the air, soaring through the water. 

68/100

Gakuryu Ishii does Kubrick.

É incrível como tudo se funde nessa sensibilidade narrativa através da imagem, que poderia ser um objeto de meme vaporwave mas acaba sendo grandioso demais para isso. A água como elemento mitológico me remete diretamente ao subestimado "Lady in the Water" do Shyamalan, mas, apesar de tudo, os dois convergem ainda mais na redenção total aos encantos da própria fantasia. Precisamos de mais filmes assim.

Would have been the visual drawing board and foundation for the seapunk movement if they even knew it existed. Alas, all the seapunks have now gone extinct -- turned into stones.

Ishii has, in my opinion, made some of the most essential cinema texts of the 20th century's latter half, so this is a minor work. But it is still enchanting and funny and strange -- a teenage fable that seems like it was drinking the same water Hideaki Anno might have been around the time.

Seemed like a good idea and it started off okay, but then it went pedestrianly silly as everything played out. It has moments but the script lands somewhere between precious and 5th grade. And you can see it on the actors' faces