CATRIONA PAUL at the Movies.

LOUD OZZIE GIRL meets repressed Japanese boy in the Australian outback for culture clash and more…
  
Directed by Sue Brooks, starring the excellent Toni Collette, (Muriel’s Wedding, About a Boy), and introducing Gotaro Tsunashima, Japanese Story follows the tradition of Walkabout and Picnic at Hanging Rock, by allowing the outback to make the biggest impression on audiences in this tragic romance.
 
Sandy (Collette) reluctantly accepts the job of guiding important businessman Tachiban round the company mines and quarries, exchanging her urban life of not-enough-time for the space of the interior. The reason for Tachiban’s trip is unclear. Sadness and shame are hinted at to explain the appeal of the emptiness.
  
Initially, there is a lack of subtlety in the characterisation. We know Sandy is both emotionally disconnected and a workaholic because the phone’s always ringing, she smokes too much, only manages lettuce and toast for tea and finds her mother hard work. When the couple meet, the culture clash is handled predictably. The film gets more awkward as it moves to the first sex scene. The pair becomes stranded in the desert but this is insufficient to explain the turnaround, from dislike to desire.
  
However, after the morning-after, the film picks up. The couple express a sensuality echoed by the camera’s delight in the colour and textures of the outdoors; Japanese music haunts the desert making a more reasonable cultural twang than earlier dialogue. Scenes are choreographed to suggest a believable depth and intimacy.
  
Despite its flaws, Japanese Story is memorable for the right reasons. Collette gives a faultless performance – especially once things take a turn for the worse (expect tears). The Ozzie desert creates a lasting impression of vastness, and the delight of two lovers discovering each other across the divide is palpable.
  
JAPANESE STORY
Selected release

Director: Sue Brooks
Writing: Alison Tilson
Stars: Toni Collette, Gotaro Tsunashima, Matthew Dyktynski, Lunette Curran, Yumiko Tanaka, Kate Atkinson
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 105
Country: Australia
Year: 2003
 

© Catriona Paul