Overall Rating
  Awesome: 42.57%
Worth A Look: 18.81%
Average: 4.95%
Pretty Bad: 12.87%
Total Crap: 20.79%
2 reviews, 89 user ratings
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| Japanese Story |
by Stephen Groenewegen
"Mining beneath the surface"
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Last year, Toni Collette played such disparate roles as a contemporary American lawyer (Changing Lanes), tough-as-nails Australian gangster’s wife (Dirty Deeds), suicidal British hippy (About A Boy) and 1940s American housewife (The Hours). Although most of these parts were small, she left an indelible impression in each. It’s cause for celebration to see her take centre stage again.She plays Sandy Edwards, a geologist based in Perth. Along with ex-lover Baird (Matthew Dyktynski), she’s partner in a small software company. Tachibana Hiromitsu (Gotaro Tsunashima) is a Japanese business executive on a field trip to inspect Australian mines. Baird senses a possible source of funds if Hiromitsu’s company purchases their latest computer program. He dispatches Sandy to pick him up from the airport, hoping an opportunity will arise for her to demonstrate their product.
Their first meetings do not go well. Sandy is ignorant of Japanese language and etiquette, and Hiromitsu assumes she is only an unqualified driver. Sandy resents being a “glorified tour guide”, and barely contains her irritation (he’s “boring as bloody cat shit”). Hiromitsu thinks she is loud, aggressive and stubborn, with a “big bum”. Nevertheless, the Australian desert fascinates him - all that space and no people - and he demands that Sandy drive further. When their 4WD inevitably bogs in the sand, Hiromitsu and Sandy must transcend their cultural misunderstandings to survive.
Writer Alison Tilson wastes little time introducing her two opposites, establishing a credible background for each and then bringing them together. If the trajectory of Sandy and Hiromitsu is initially predictable, at least director Sue Brooks sends them to some eye-catching locations.
We’re taken on a tour of the BHP Billiton working iron ore mine at Newman and then into the stunning red-orange landscape of the Western Australian Pilbara desert. The cinematography of Ian Baker, a longtime collaborator of Fred Schepisi, is extraordinarily evocative. It’s also effective in generating a sense of awesome space in which Sandy and Hiromitsu redefine themselves. Baker and Brooks capture a feeling of ancient vastness in their depiction of the land. It’s not surprising the indigenous custodians of the region granted consent to their filming.
Japanese Story transforms itself from a road movie, as Sandy and Hiromitsu’s relationship deepens. Then Tilson and Brooks shift gear again with a remarkable change of tone. To this point, Japanese Story has been about surfaces. Form alters to match content, as the filmmakers strip away the apparent surface of the film to reveal a new layer beneath. Everything is simplified and the chief theme - the value of awareness - emerges clearly. “Even when you’re here, you’re not here”, Sandy’s best friend Jane (Justine Clarke) had told her at the start. Hiromitsu helps open Sandy’s eyes to what’s important. She, in turn, shows him something beautiful.
Tilson, Brooks and producer Sue Maslin all collaborated on 1997’s Road to Nhill, a likeable comedy about a group of lady lawn bowlers whose car overturns in the country. In terms of technique and confidence, Japanese Story is in another league. My only qualm was Brooks’ overuse of intense close-ups. She also tends to drape the characters photogenically against the stunning desert backdrops a little too often. Editor Jill Bilcock undoubtedly deserves to share credit for the beautiful flow of the story.
Tsunashima is an effective foil for the earthy Collette. He’s acted in Australia before, in the television mini-series Changi. There’s also strong support from Yumiko Tanaka as his softly spoken wife and Dyktynski as Sandy’s well-meaning but insensitive partner. This is Sandy’s “Japanese story”, and Japanese Story is Collette’s film. Sometimes funny, at other times emotionally raw, Collette’s constantly on screen and gives a gutsy and powerful performance.It’s worth stressing that Japanese Story ends up a very different film from where it starts. As a journey, it captures the unpredictability and preciousness of the life we live and the world we live it in.
link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=8125&reviewer=104
originally posted: 09/04/03 13:47:29
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For more in the Australian series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Palm Springs Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Palm Springs Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Vancouver Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Vancouver Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Starz Denver Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Starz Denver Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Chicago Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Chicago Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Brisbane Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Brisbane Film Festival series, click here.
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USA
31-Dec-2003 (R)
DVD: 11-May-2004
UK
N/A
Australia
25-Sep-2003 (M)
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