Well, it's actually not a movie about a foreign cartoonist in Japan.
I watched this movie during JIFFEST 2004 (Jakarta Int'l Film Festival). A foreign girl left her country for Japan, hoping to find a new life. Back in her city, she had a Japanese boyfriend. He often told stories about Japan, and it made her interested. This girl loved to draw anything, especially things that happened around her, into panels. So it's very close to a comic.
In Japan, I forgot what city, she shared an apartment with other foreign girls. Most (if not all) work in a nightclub. She also worked in the same club, for a living. While she's there, she drew many scenes based on what happened around her. And then something terrible happened...and she made her own investigation...and drew her findings/ imagination/ etc into papers.
What I love about Stratosphere Girl is the ability to portrait a very nice-looking innocent girl, with a very imaginative mind, into a world of deception, crime, illegal foreign workers life in Japan. She followed her instincts to follow the mystery, although it would endanger her life.
The cinematography was very good, and I really like the way it shot night-life in Japan. Her drawings (I don't know if it's actually her drawing, or the director have it for her) were very beautiful, only using colored pencils (if I'm not mistaken). I wished those drawings were available commercially as a comic book.
This movie could fall into a thriller category, not just drama. I wished the director could made this movie more thrilling. But this is not a Hollywood movie=), but the director thrilled us in a different way.
I watched this movie during JIFFEST 2004 (Jakarta Int'l Film Festival). A foreign girl left her country for Japan, hoping to find a new life. Back in her city, she had a Japanese boyfriend. He often told stories about Japan, and it made her interested. This girl loved to draw anything, especially things that happened around her, into panels. So it's very close to a comic.
In Japan, I forgot what city, she shared an apartment with other foreign girls. Most (if not all) work in a nightclub. She also worked in the same club, for a living. While she's there, she drew many scenes based on what happened around her. And then something terrible happened...and she made her own investigation...and drew her findings/ imagination/ etc into papers.
What I love about Stratosphere Girl is the ability to portrait a very nice-looking innocent girl, with a very imaginative mind, into a world of deception, crime, illegal foreign workers life in Japan. She followed her instincts to follow the mystery, although it would endanger her life.
The cinematography was very good, and I really like the way it shot night-life in Japan. Her drawings (I don't know if it's actually her drawing, or the director have it for her) were very beautiful, only using colored pencils (if I'm not mistaken). I wished those drawings were available commercially as a comic book.
This movie could fall into a thriller category, not just drama. I wished the director could made this movie more thrilling. But this is not a Hollywood movie=), but the director thrilled us in a different way.