Japanese Story (Sue Brooks, 2003) wr. Alison Tilson, prod. Sue Maslin, ed. Jill Bilcock; Gecko Films; Toni Collette as Sandy Edwards, Gotaro Tsunashima as Tachibana Hiromitsu; set and shot in Perth and the Pilbara; screened at Cannes in the section of the Festival called Un Certain Regard; won Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography AFIs 2003; well-connected Japanese executive comes to Western Australian to inspect iron-ore mining and is driven in the bush by a geologist (Collette)
Good try, especially from Collette; Japanese viewers may see Hiro as too stereotypical.
... the movie demonstrates what it's has been trying to say all along. Alison Tilson's screenplay follows its logic into deep feelings. What does another person mean to us, really, if they are not available to share our lives, and we cannot really know them -- but we cherish them for the transient joy they have shared with us? Roger Ebert.
... it certainly presents a view of the world as experienced by women, but to call it a women’s film is still a gross injustice; it not only insults men as being disinterested in the subject ... it also sets up inaccurate expectations. The film is neither a weepy nor a gently romantic film. If anything, it’s anti-romantic in that it never portrays love as a pretty illusion. Indeed, in many ways it’s a tough, uncompromising film, and its selection for Un Certain Regard (Cannes 2003) underlines its exceptional values. Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile.
Garry Gillard | New: 16 November, 2012 | Now: 7 December, 2019