The Harimaya Bridge review by Sophie Ivan Andersen

If you asked for my opinion in one sentence, I would say: If you like Japan, if you have ever been an ALT, if you've lived here as a foreigner, especially as a black person, or have wondered as a Japanese person what foreigners make of this place, The Harimaya Bridge is worth the watch.

But no-one wants a one-line review, so here is a bit more.

A young black American artist, Mickey Holder, goes to Kochi-ken, Shikoku as a JET. This causes his father, Daniel, much anger as Daniel's father died as a POW in a Japanese prison camp. The two become estranged. Mickey dies in a traffic accident. The loss causes Daniel to go to Japan in search of the one tangible thing Mickey has left behind - his art. On his journey he experiences culture shock, he encounters prejudice as a foreigner and a black one at that - and he is forced to face his own prejudices.

And so while the ostensible theme of the film (father-son estrangement) is a rather well-worn one, there are several underlying themes that aren't. This film puts things on the big screen I have not seen there before.

Especially resonant is the portrayal of the life of an ALT, specifically a JET. Scenes of Mickey in the classroom, his empty chair at the BOE, the majestic beauty and worn out ugliness of the Japanese countryside. Writer / director Aaron Woolfolk was himself a Kochi ALT once and he portrays it incredibly unsentimentally. It is real.

And then there is the racism. The very real racism and prejudice that exists in Japan, especially against non-white foreigners, and even within the country's nationals. The film stops just short of mentioning the word burakumin, as there is a sub-storyline about a Japanese woman being forbidden by her parents to marry another Japanese "because of some work his parents did." This can almost only mean the burakumin, the Japanese untouchables, whose ancestors worked as butchers, undertakers and other jobs involving dead animals and people. I wonder why it stops short of mentioning this (a demand from the Japanese side of production?)

There are other problematic stereotypes in this film, especially with the female characters. There is the "special education" girl who has some strange, unspecified mental illness or possibly some syndrome or maybe is just mentally retarded, who knows. There is the unfortunate gendering of Mickey's girlfriend to the traditional female place of the uchi, the inside - she retreats into the country and into her house after his death.

But this film gets so much right and especially the portrayal of black protagonists that are deep, and, pardon the pun, not black and white but rather a moral shade of good with bad, not to mention the ever-wonderful Danny Glover, is something that cinema sorely needs.

The film is beautifully shot. The lighting is harsh and realistic, but this makes the beauty of Kochi all the more real - it really looks this good, even in bright daylight, even with all that concrete.

The editing is interesting too. While it does become pretty obvious where the film is going some 20 minutes in, the beginning of the film features a bunch of interesting cuts and jumps in time that keep you guessing.

Further, this film has something rather revolutionary: double subtitles. The English is subtitled in Japanese and vice versa. This works surprisingly well and is indicative of a rather impressive ambition of appealing both to a Japanese and a non-Japanese audience. And the film reflects this with some interesting point-of-view work. An early scene follows Daniel and his Japanese hosts from Daniel's point of view, but then Daniel closes a door and we are stuck with the Japanese hosts and get to hear their thoughts - in Japanese.

This kind of thing rarely works. A recent example is Eastwood's The Changeling, where following not just the mother of a lost son, but also a child who was an accomplice to his possible murder took me out rather than into the film and the feelings of the protagonists rather.

However, in this film, it works. I found myself sympathising, at alternate times, with Mickey, Daniel, the Japanese hosts, and Mickey's girlfriend. Not sure how Woolfolk achieved this but he deserves huge credit for this, as do all the actors and whoever must have worked behind the scenes with this multi-lingual cast and script.

The film IS too long. At 120 minutes it could have easily lost 30. Having the writer direct the film has probably meant that some pretty appalling dialogue has been allowed to be kept in. Some of the exposition is particularly obvious. You know it's never good when one character calls the other by their family relationship. I mean, how many 35-year olds address their uncles as, "Uncle"? There is a lot of over-exposition and repetition in this film which could have easily been cut without losing the mood.

The ending too is rather predictable, even if it throws up a couple of surprises. It doesn't quite work in drawing the parallels it wants to between the prejudices Daniel suffers from and the ones he holds himself, and it all ties up a little too neatly.

Bottom line, The Harimaya Bridge is a human drama. I'd even say melodrama. This film IS manipulative. The writing, the directing, the acting and the music are all designed to make you react a certain way. But then, so are almost all films. The rare ones that aren't, like Gus Van Sant's Elephant, are rare for a reason. An audience needs some guidance, and without it is left restless and ill at ease. However, the best films, like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or A History of Violence, use the tools of cinema to manipulate you in the wrong direction. You hear happy music or you see a sunlit family scene and you think everything is A-OK. Later you learn that nothing could have been further from the truth.

The Harimaya Bridge is not that kind of film. In fact, most of the techniques employed are very conventional. But this works to help you accept the subtly subversive stuff: the themes and the story, the multiple points of view and the bilingual subtitles. It is a film that portrays the experience of being a stranger in Japan better than it portrays what Japanese life is like to Japanese people. As such, it might have more to offer to Japanese viewers who are interested in what living in Japan is like to a foreigner with no knowledge of the language. But it does also cover things not readily spoken about here, like racism and discrimination, and for this it's an important film.

However, even if you're a foreigner, there are so many moments of recognition in this film, not to mention reminders of what it's like when you first come here, that it is absolutely worth the watch. And if you have family and friends at home who "just don't understand" when you complain, now you know what to do: get them a copy of this.

The Harimaya Bridge is playing at Wald 11 with English and Japanese subtitles from June 13. Show time June 13-20 are 09:30, 11:55, 14:05, 16:45, 21:15. Late show at 23:25 on Sat June 13 only.

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Sophie Ivan Andersen
June 2009