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The Water Was So Clear

Name: The Water Was So Clear
Director: Yoichi Takabayashi
Released: 1973
Duration: 92 min

Representation Score

5.7/10

Fair

1973

Director

Yoichi Takabayashi

Runtime

92 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The film offers a provocative deconstruction of traditional moral hierarchies and religious sanctity. By centering the plot on a underrepresented homeless girl and the subsequent breakdown of monastic discipline, it challenges the perceived perfection of religious authority. While the film lacks modern multi-layered markers, it succeeds in providing a localized, non-Western perspective. However, the work remains limited by its era, lacking explicit representation for LGBTQ+ identities or disability. It functions more as a critique of institutional dogma than a study of diverse identities.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Water Was So Clear have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film explores non-traditional intimacy and erotic obsession that challenges religious sanctity. While it lacks explicit LGBTQ identities, it subverts the assumption that everyone is straight or cisgender through the priest's obsession.

How does The Water Was So Clear portray gender?

Fair

A female protagonist transitions from being a victim to becoming an essential part of the temple's social structure. Her presence disrupts the established order of the male-dominated religious institution.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Water Was So Clear?

Fair

As a 1973 Japanese production, the film operates within a culturally specific framework. It avoids a Western-centric lens by grounding the narrative in non-Anglo-Saxon cultural norms.

How does The Water Was So Clear represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The narrative critiques traditional institutions by eroticizing sacred spaces. It prioritizes human experience and moral relativism over rigid religious dogma and monastic discipline.

Does The Water Was So Clear include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no discernible evidence regarding the portrayal of physical or neurodivergent disabilities in this work.

Present on Screen

Strong critique of traditional religious institutions and their perceived sanctity.
Provides a non-Western perspective that avoids an Anglo-Saxon lens.
Centers a underrepresented protagonist to drive the narrative tension.

Limited or Absent

Lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or characters.
Provides no discernible portrayal of physical or neurodivergent disabilities.
Relies on a culturally specific framework that may lack globalized diversity.

Official Synopsis

A Buddhist priest rescues a homeless girl and brings her into his temple's household. Soon she becomes an essential part of the place. One night she is raped by a young man who then becomes her lover. The priest happens on them one night as they make love before the temple shrine, and he becomes erotically obsessed.

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