Kamataki is a fine and beautiful film.  The director, Claude Gagnon, is married to a Japanese wife and spent a decade there during the 1970s.  He is able to look at his own native French-Canadian culture as well as that of Japan and the interactions between an eastern and western culture.

The film focuses on a young man, well portrayed by Matt Smiley, who is suicidal after the death of his father.  His desperate mother sends him to his uncle in Japan, an uncle with whom his father had fallen out.  The uncle is portrayed by Tatsuya Fuji, a veteran Japanese actor. 

The uncle is a potter, using the ancient art of kamataki.  The film portrays the detail of pot-making and uses it as a way of calm, meditation as well as an opportunity for responsibility, especially keeping the fire at the right heat in order for the pots to set.  The situation gives the young man an opportunity to reassess his life, see his French-Canadian background in perspective as well as understand something of his Japanese heritage. 

The portrait of the old man is a mixture of wisdom and humour.  It shows his different relationships with women, a different standard from that that the young Canadian man expected.  The young man then has to learn the nature of relationships, of love and commitment.

The Japanese settings are beautifully photographed, contrasting with the icy opening in Montreal. 

The film explores values, the spiritual journey, the meeting of cultures and mutual understanding.  Kamataki won the Ecumenical Prize at the Montreal Film Festival, 2005.

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