Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2010

It’s fitting for a film with the title Kotoba no nai Fuyu (literally, “Wordless Winter”) to be a quiet, lilting work that offers bursts of emotional intensity. Fusako (Saki Takaoka) works at a stable and lives with her father (Toshiyuki Kitami), a pharmacist, in a rural Hokkaido town. A natural beauty, she fears her youth might be slipping away because her boyfriend, a music producer in Sapporo, rarely calls. The house is enlivened by the return of Sachi (Miki), Fusako’s younger sister and a successful model in Tokyo, who drops by for an extended visit. When Fusako meets a mute mechanic Wataru (Atsuro Watabe), a romance seems forthcoming. But things take an unexpected turn when Fusako falls from a horse and suffers a head injury. Shot with long stretches of silence amid a white winter landscape, Kotoba no nai Fuyu has a wonderful poetic quality counterpointed by energetic, handheld takes of the characters talking, eating and laughing. In all, it’s a poignant and meditative experience. English title: Echo of Silence. (94 min)