Journey to the center of the human volcano

In 1997, a young documentary filmmaker named Naomi Kawase won the Camera d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her first feature film, "Moe no Suzaku." A drama about the disintegration of a family and community, set deep in the mountains of Kawase's native Nara Prefecture and shot almost entirely with amateur actors, "Moe no Suzaku" became an art-house hit and made Kawase a celebrity. Even the sports papers covered her marriage to her producer, Suncent Cinema Work President Takenori Sento.

Her second feature, "Hotaru (Firefly)," is a story of turbulent love told in her characteristic visually poetic, narratively impressionistic style, but with a new emotional power and narrative dynamism.

Even so, Kawase is still very much the conscientious documentarian, who would rather have the characters tell their own story, in their own way, than force them to express a preconceived directorial vision. The aim is an examination of inner realities, free of the usual commercial restraints -- and "Hotaru" achieves it more often than not.