The movie is very well written and acting is superb, especially from the main actress. She is very young and balancing so well in the role that has to be both mature beyond her age on one hand and childlike on another.
Before watching this movie, I was not familiar with Japanese immigration laws and was not even aware of the fact that there are Kurdish refugees in the country, so there was definitely an education moment for me as well.
Because of this reason, I am still left with some important questions unanswered despite the emotional and mindful storytelling.
1. How is it possible that minors can live alone in Japan? I do not understand how the social service would not be involved after her father went to jail, especially considering the youngest child, her brother. It seems unlikely to me that minors would just be left alone to fend for themselves, is it really so in Japan?
2. Again, I am appalled by the fact that parents must renounce their visa status in exchange for children's visa and find it hard to believe - a definite shock for me which I immediately went to google. How come the lawyer was so passive and nobody did anything for the family?
I also noticed that the main character is depicted in a kind of idealised Japanese manner - apart from her looks she and in fact her brother and sister too act and behave totally Japanese and, while this theoretically possible, I find it highly unlikely from my experience. Even the father is fluent in Japanese and speaks mostly Japanese to the kids which, again, from what I have seen in other countries strikes me as odd.
Even though it is mentioned in the movie that many Kurdish refugees speak no or very poor Japanese, they are depicted as kind of outlaws in comparison to the "good" family that behaves very Japanese (kids even slurp ramen to the annoyance of their father). The question is, why did the director feel the need to depict a "perfect" immigrant family totally immersed in local culture (which, again, does not happen so often)? Would the average viewer feel less emotionally invested if the family or the main girl were rebellious, odd or non-compliant to the Japanese manners and typical behaviour? If the main character was less "feminine" in a traditional Japanese way, less selfless or deviating in any way from the ideal behaviour, would the average viewer have same feelings of empathy towards her story? If her father spoke zero Japanese, etc., would it change the viewers perception?
Also, the good point about the movie was showing reactions of Japanese people around them to their situation; boss firing her and even telling her to stay away from her boyfriend etc. Unfortunately the consequences and the follow up were not really depicted in the movie, so I feel this topic needed a bit more thorough investigation even though I find it admirable to have such a realistic and critical stance towards the society.
All in all, this is an excellent movie about a topic not so well known and I would recommend it to anyone interested in immigration politics, sociology or simply a touching human story.
Before watching this movie, I was not familiar with Japanese immigration laws and was not even aware of the fact that there are Kurdish refugees in the country, so there was definitely an education moment for me as well.
Because of this reason, I am still left with some important questions unanswered despite the emotional and mindful storytelling.
1. How is it possible that minors can live alone in Japan? I do not understand how the social service would not be involved after her father went to jail, especially considering the youngest child, her brother. It seems unlikely to me that minors would just be left alone to fend for themselves, is it really so in Japan?
2. Again, I am appalled by the fact that parents must renounce their visa status in exchange for children's visa and find it hard to believe - a definite shock for me which I immediately went to google. How come the lawyer was so passive and nobody did anything for the family?
I also noticed that the main character is depicted in a kind of idealised Japanese manner - apart from her looks she and in fact her brother and sister too act and behave totally Japanese and, while this theoretically possible, I find it highly unlikely from my experience. Even the father is fluent in Japanese and speaks mostly Japanese to the kids which, again, from what I have seen in other countries strikes me as odd.
Even though it is mentioned in the movie that many Kurdish refugees speak no or very poor Japanese, they are depicted as kind of outlaws in comparison to the "good" family that behaves very Japanese (kids even slurp ramen to the annoyance of their father). The question is, why did the director feel the need to depict a "perfect" immigrant family totally immersed in local culture (which, again, does not happen so often)? Would the average viewer feel less emotionally invested if the family or the main girl were rebellious, odd or non-compliant to the Japanese manners and typical behaviour? If the main character was less "feminine" in a traditional Japanese way, less selfless or deviating in any way from the ideal behaviour, would the average viewer have same feelings of empathy towards her story? If her father spoke zero Japanese, etc., would it change the viewers perception?
Also, the good point about the movie was showing reactions of Japanese people around them to their situation; boss firing her and even telling her to stay away from her boyfriend etc. Unfortunately the consequences and the follow up were not really depicted in the movie, so I feel this topic needed a bit more thorough investigation even though I find it admirable to have such a realistic and critical stance towards the society.
All in all, this is an excellent movie about a topic not so well known and I would recommend it to anyone interested in immigration politics, sociology or simply a touching human story.
Tell Your Friends