AllMovie

In this downbeat, emotionally gripping drama, a lone guardian of some small huts on one of the northernmost, small islands off Japan remembers his once happier past and the events that destroyed everyone he held dear. As a young man, he was good at fishing and made a decent living for himself and his wife. Eventually, three sons come along, grow up, and the fisherman's single boat progresses into a whole fleet of seacraft. But his destiny is not to be a contented and wealthy man as one by one, his sons are claimed by rough seas. His wife also becomes ill and though he valiently tries to reach an outpost that has much-needed penicillin, the very hardship of the journey itself portends failure.