This very compelling ad moving story is set in Kochi Prefecture, in Japan, an area I know quite well, as I have lived and traveled there.
Its been said that if you want to know America and how America really is, you must know Iowa. Well, if you really want to know Japan, and how Japanese think, you must know Kochi. It is the "midwest" of Japan: its rural, its people are hard-working, somewhat insular but welcoming of strangers, and totally unassuming. It is not the Japan most Americans know from their trips to Tokyo or Osaka any more than New York or LA is the United States.
The people of Kochi are absolutely lovely and would give you the shirt off their back, should you need one. They are Japan's "Iowans." The "founding father" and political martyr of modern Japan, Sakamoto Ryoma, is from Kochi. Inspired by the United States, he helped unify the country to make possible the Meiji Restoration by overthrowing the ruling shogunate in the late 1860's. He is as central and revered a figure in modern Japanese politics as Abraham Lincoln is to the USA. (Oddly, his statue and bust are shown repeatedly in this film, but neither his name or his story are ever related.) Those aspects are what make the director's choice of Kochi -- knowingly or unknowingly -- such a critical backdrop of this film.
I would have given the film a 10 were it not for three problems: First, it it too long by half an hour. There are lengthy pauses and some other scenes that could and should have been cut entirely. Second, there are lengthy elements of Japanese-to-Japanese dialog that are not dubbed. If you are not fluent in Japanese, these are pointless and close certain aspects of the film (i.e., the relationship of the mother and daughter in the film and the father and the American)totally unintelligible to the viewer. Subtitles are a quick, easy, cheap fix to bring this most deserving story to a wider American audience. Third, the timing of the film is way off in terms of characters and ages. Its set "present day"; it should be set about 1995 or so if all the story elements are to "gel" properly chronologically. (Briefly, World War II ended in 1945. To have remembered someone who fought and died in the war, one would have to be around 72 years old today, meaning you would have children who are roughly 40 years old. In this movie, "Dad" is about 60; the son is maybe 25, etc) Plus, Kochi was relative foreclosed in the early 1990's; there weren't so many gai-jin (foreigners) there then. Given a two million dollar budget, though, these minor sins can be forgiven.
Simply put, this is a very compelling, moving -- if somewhat predictable -- picture that makes you realize there isn't much difference between people or cultures, only norms and behaviors. In the end, people love and care for their children, they're loyal to their communities, and they love for reasons only God knows and only He really understands.
Lovely, believable cast; solid cinematography (though its hard to do justice to Kochi natural beauty) and a very moving script. More pictures should have this kind of depth.
Its been said that if you want to know America and how America really is, you must know Iowa. Well, if you really want to know Japan, and how Japanese think, you must know Kochi. It is the "midwest" of Japan: its rural, its people are hard-working, somewhat insular but welcoming of strangers, and totally unassuming. It is not the Japan most Americans know from their trips to Tokyo or Osaka any more than New York or LA is the United States.
The people of Kochi are absolutely lovely and would give you the shirt off their back, should you need one. They are Japan's "Iowans." The "founding father" and political martyr of modern Japan, Sakamoto Ryoma, is from Kochi. Inspired by the United States, he helped unify the country to make possible the Meiji Restoration by overthrowing the ruling shogunate in the late 1860's. He is as central and revered a figure in modern Japanese politics as Abraham Lincoln is to the USA. (Oddly, his statue and bust are shown repeatedly in this film, but neither his name or his story are ever related.) Those aspects are what make the director's choice of Kochi -- knowingly or unknowingly -- such a critical backdrop of this film.
I would have given the film a 10 were it not for three problems: First, it it too long by half an hour. There are lengthy pauses and some other scenes that could and should have been cut entirely. Second, there are lengthy elements of Japanese-to-Japanese dialog that are not dubbed. If you are not fluent in Japanese, these are pointless and close certain aspects of the film (i.e., the relationship of the mother and daughter in the film and the father and the American)totally unintelligible to the viewer. Subtitles are a quick, easy, cheap fix to bring this most deserving story to a wider American audience. Third, the timing of the film is way off in terms of characters and ages. Its set "present day"; it should be set about 1995 or so if all the story elements are to "gel" properly chronologically. (Briefly, World War II ended in 1945. To have remembered someone who fought and died in the war, one would have to be around 72 years old today, meaning you would have children who are roughly 40 years old. In this movie, "Dad" is about 60; the son is maybe 25, etc) Plus, Kochi was relative foreclosed in the early 1990's; there weren't so many gai-jin (foreigners) there then. Given a two million dollar budget, though, these minor sins can be forgiven.
Simply put, this is a very compelling, moving -- if somewhat predictable -- picture that makes you realize there isn't much difference between people or cultures, only norms and behaviors. In the end, people love and care for their children, they're loyal to their communities, and they love for reasons only God knows and only He really understands.
Lovely, believable cast; solid cinematography (though its hard to do justice to Kochi natural beauty) and a very moving script. More pictures should have this kind of depth.