JAPANESE STORY

Country: Australia
Director: Sue Brooks
Lead Actors: Toni Collette, Gotaro Tsunashima, Lynette Curran, Yumiko Tanaka, Matthew Dyktynski
Running time: 107 min.
English Subtitles
Rating: Not Rated

“Totally convincing in a physically demanding role, Collette carries the movie on her shoulders –and that weight is what it’s all about.” J. Hoberman, The Village Voice

An Official Selection of the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival, JAPANESE STORY is Sue Brooks’s thoroughly engrossing second feature, which chronicles the unforgettable adventures of Sandy Edwards (Toni Collette, THE HOURS).

The limitless terrain of the Australian Outback is a fitting metaphor for Sandy’s arid emotional life; she is an unfulfilled, workaholic geologist who is handed the less-than-plum assignment of chaperoning a prominent Japanese businessman named Hiromitsu (Gotaro Tsunashima) through the Pilbara desert.

Sandy’s reluctance is matched by her guest’s enigmatic, often inexplicably surly behaviour. Only the viewer can see that, in addition to facing a huge language barrier, these unwilling travel partners are both critical of qualities in the other that they themselves possess.

Following a tour of a huge iron-ore mine, Hiromitsu instructs Sandy to take him on a drive through a remote area and, after a heated exchange, she agrees. They wind up stranded in their bogged-down Range Rover and must endure a lonely night in the desert.

As is often the case, events like this bring people together, and Sandy and Hiromitsu emerge in the morning with a new understanding and appreciation of each other. At this point, however, there is a twist, and from here on in the film explodes with new emotional energy and insight.

Ian Baker’s camera captures the sheer immensity and power of the Australian Outback with such vividness that the land could be credited as a third major cast member.

As the staid Japanese businessman who, it turns out, is searching for more than just mineral deposits, Tsunashima creates a sympathetic, multi-faceted character who simmers under his formal veneer.

Collette soars as Sandy – particularly in the climactic second half of the film – giving a performance that ranks among the best of her career. Bold and unpredictable, she leaves no corner of Sandy’s suppressed psyche unexplored.

“Develops into a powerfully emotional experience thanks to a career-best performance by Toni Collette.” - David Stratton, Variety
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