Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

curtisedlin Japanese Story is a fantastic Indie film. I was actually required to watch this film for a nonverbal communication course in college. I am quite happy that this film was chosen to be analyzed, otherwise I may have not seen it. Not only did this film teach me more about nonverbal interactions but also benefited me as a filmmaker. As an aspiring director and cinematographer, analyzing films is the best kind of homework. If you have not seen this film, I recommend you to watch it. Right from the beginning the film had me fully immersed into the story. It was almost as if there was a mystery was hidden in the plot that kept me intrigued. This film has a well written story with a major twist in the plot that you will never see coming!

dmarcusb Despite its incredulously high rating, the movie is very slow, has a pitifully undeveloped plot, and is further diminished by weak acting throughout. The time spent watching it really doesn't do anything but disappoint the viewer, leaving you wondering how you're supposed to make sense of what you've seen. The plot is so fragmented and ill constructed that the continuity of the story is never established. All you're left with is what you can salvage from the cinematography, which reveals the harsh beauty of the Australian desert. Having watched thousands of movies, I'd have to tell those interested in this one to find another one to watch or just go bathe the dog.

secondtake Japanese Story (2003)Toni Collette is such a natural on screen, ranging from bemused to chagrined with a single change in her face, and seeming so vividly present in every scene, she almost makes this movie work. Her male counterpart, little known Japanese actor Gotaro Tsunashima, is meant to be an uptight and restrained contrast, but he may take that intention the wrong way, making his character bland on screen. That the two have to first dislike each other, and then not dislike each other very much, depends on some kind of magic between the actors, or characters, which just doesn't exist.And then there is the plot. On paper it even looks a bit thin--two young people arrive on a mining island in the Pacific for different reasons (one from Australia, the other from Japan), and after butting cultural heads a bit, they head off in their Land Cruiser to an isolated part of the barren landscape. So far we follow. But the plot depends on them getting stranded out there, very far from everything (but perplexingly still in cell phone range!), and so the writers concoct some kind of need, which isn't really clear to me, to drive farther, mostly because he tells her to. And they do get stranded.And then they get stuck. Oh, right. And they spend the night together, he rises out of his selfish haze, they become lovers, and then, in a tropical paradise part of the coast, tragedy strikes. And there is the necessary coming to terms with all the repercussions. The final, long long shot of Collette in the airport is, by this point, utter hedonism on the director's part, and it dulls an already dragging film.You might be able to take in the unusual setting for the film, and enjoy Collette's strengths, and make it through okay.

feczo Weak plot, no character development, seriously dumb dialogs. The male main character is a shame for all men and as previously mentioned its a humiliation of the Japanese: he shows weakness so many times it is very annoying, (spoiler alert) even in the "sex scene" I felt he is being raped by the female character. I did not even get how these two developed any chemistry over extremely silly conversations, the intellectual level was like listening to 4 year old not adults. The only value in the film is some nice scenic shots, however it dragged out the movie which made it even more boring. The closing scene is completely illogical. I do not get how could this receive so many Australian awards ( I live in Australia for the last 3 years) it is not even a good film on the Australian scene, watch Candy if you would like to see a good OZ movie, but this is outrageously horrible, I wish I could vote 0 to drop the current rating even more.