Paradise View (1985)

Set in Okinawa on the eve of reversion and filmed almost entirely in the endangered Okinawan language, the story revolves around a man who has quit his job at a U.S. military base and an ethnographer (acted by renowned Japanese musician HOSONO Haruomi) who attempts to marry a village woman in the traditional Ryukyu customs. Blurring the line between reality and fantasy, Takamine's signature style of storytelling has already taken shape in this feature film debut.