Dârin wa gaikokujin (2010)

6/10

mtsmith021 October 2011

This film provides a window into cross-cultural romantic difficulties, but the more pointed possibilities are relegated to individual lines of dialogue that can easily get lost in a a "rom- com" haze. As a movie, "My Darling is a Foreigner" is of the type that could well play on the Japanese version of the "Hallmark" channel - a "made for TV" sort of film, best viewed as a cultural artifact rather than a major motion picture with international appeal. The interviews with other cross-cultural couples a la "When Harry Met Sally" are more revealing of the kind of issues that can come up in such relationships; the dramatization of these conflicts in the actual Saori-Tony relationships in the movie are pallid in comparison. The interspersed drawings from Saori's Manga have a freshness that scenes of the coupe frolicking on the beach or making their bed together are the kind of filmmaking clichés that a Woody Allen would have masterfully satirized in a film like "Annie Hall," or "Love and Death."

I sought out as many reviews as I could find to understand the cultural relevance of the plot. It does indeed seem like a burning social issue for Japanese society, and as such, its appeal to a domestic Japanese audience is understandable. I most appreciated the words of a cross- cultural blogger, who suggested that any who choose to criticize "My Darling" view it alongside Sophia Coppola's Oscar-winning "Lost In Translation." As pieces that might have made arguments for cross-cultural sensitivity, they are equally lacking.

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7/10

Watching it from the eyes of a gaijin, this is a pleasurable and enjoyable film that brings you back to the basics of love

moviexclusive16 September 2010

The notion of having a gaijin (short-form of foreigner in Japanese) as boyfriend is not new. However what sets the film apart from films that concentrate on intercultural interactions is that it is adapted from a manga, which is a truthful account of the author's own intercultural relationship experience!

The movie does not go into great detail as to how these two starkly different (figuratively and literally speaking) people got together in the first place. It is as though we must expect the two people who happen to cross path at work to eventually end up together and attain the boyfriend-girlfriend status. However let us not nit-pick at it and recognize that the film has to be fundamentally different from the manga itself! It is but 100-min short so some things have to be forgone and we are thus saved from being bombarded by the laborious process of them getting together.

What is endearing is that this film has accurately captured the essence of inter-cultural communication, especially the Japanese as opposed to Americans. From communicating plainly with words versus communicating with 'eye power', to interpreting meaning of the conversation based on the words used versus interpreting the conversation by feeling the climate and context of the conversation, et cetera. Then we are also presented with the stereotypes that Japanese have on gaijin and vice versa. The challenges faced by non-native Japanese speakers on wordplay, pronunciation, articulation and idiom usage were amongst one of the many illustrations as well. The plot mechanics may look sloppy at first glance, but they were rather purposefully planned to achieve the intended intention: to show the gulf that exists in the intercultural communication with the myriad of real-life illustrations. Moreover, the differences that were highlighted are pretty hilarious and evoke laughter.

Some say the narrative is rather predictable and dull. True enough, that could possibly be the case but it was salvaged with some decent acting from Inoue Mao and her counterparts. You may have known her previously for her role in Hana Yori Dango (aka Boys Before Flowers). There was an especially affecting scene that had a close-up shot of her, and made emphasis the emotions on countenance. It does not necessarily mean that the 'personalized effect' could be achieved just by taking a close-up shot; it was Inoue Mao who made it enduring and makes one empathize and question why love has to be so bittersweet. Veterans Ryoko Kuninaka and Jun Kunimura are also praise-worthy in terms of their acting, though their appearances are brief.

Again, this film could be criticized for having an over-glamorized outlook on intercultural relationships and eventually marriage. However, let's also not forget that narrative was essentially written by the female protagonist, who may be skewed in the way she perceives her darling for the very fact that she is so very in love with him! As such, the cinematic adaptation does a pretty good job in trying to maintaining the balance, at best trying to present both sides of the story.

Consequently, this is but a light-hearted and tender loving movie that is not particularly thought provoking. It's interesting to note that the targeted audience are young women. Therefore to achieve success in this segment of the demographics, the movie had a lovely and cotton-candy sweet atmosphere towards the end. That being said, if you are expecting to watch a highly sophisticated film with mature theme and content, this one probably made a big miss. It is more suitable for those who are just seeking for a movie that has a soothing effect.

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7/10

Very enjoyable film especially for those who can emphasise

gorgeouzz26 August 2010

Warning: Spoilers

Although this film is not one with fantastic lines nor acting, it is very endearing to see the cultural differences and awkwardness between the west and the east. This is what makes this a nice, enjoyable film. The style is using a manga theme to explain the situations (and ironically to pair with the main character's profession as an aspiring manga artist), although towards the 2nd half this was dropped and forgotten, which is a shame in my opinion.

The Americans may not be as believable (as other critics have said), but I must say, it's not far from the truth. In Japan, it is incredible to see how many American men who take advantage of the submissive culture and interest from Japanese girls, and they don't even bother to learn Japanese. The wedding scene with Tony defending Saori when her parents put her down- it was a very nice touch of the cultural difference where it's seen to be rude if you praise your children. Then the opposition against the interracial relationship is an issue very real, parents are scared that the difference in culture is too great and could end up hurting their daughter.

The ending may be a little bit curt, but the point came through. The mother and daughter bonding, when the mother revealed that it's normal to be different in a relationship, even between 2 Japanese. It's more important to follow your heart, so Saori rushes off to find Tony in LA, rehearsing English to use when she meets the family. Only to be greeted by an opened minded family in open arms who rehearsed Japanese to greet her.

Perhaps for an American or other Caucasians watching this movie the scenes about the differences could be silly, but in actual fact, that's how we view it. Watch with an open mind and you'll see it's not pretentious at all, it's simply a recount of an experience a Japanese had in this situation through their eyes. It didn't once show the view of Tony, it was all the view of Saori.

Don't expect great cinematography and lines from this movie, but for those who can emphasise with the situation or even those who want to understand, it's a nice warm and fuzzy movie which will leave you with a smile at the end.

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2/10

my audience is comatose

LunarPoise18 August 2010

My Darling is a Foreigner attempts to take a light-hearted look at cross-cultural relationships, namely Japanese women and foreign men. It is a topic that should throw up amusing, insightful and even painful episodes. Instead, we are presented with this vacuous, witless, ill-conceived offering.

Saori is a struggling manga artist besotted with Japanophile American Tony. The opening sequences of the film involves Saori waiting for the somewhat wimpy Tony to make a move. During this time she is exposed to Tony's coterie of gaijin friends, one-dimensional representations painfully devoid of any humanity or complexity. Gaijin, in fact, as some uninformed Japanese filmmaker imagines them to be. At one point one of Tony's friends flicks Saori on the nose and jibes at her for not speaking English. In two decades of living in Japan I have crossed paths with some gaijin knob'eads in my time, but nothing about this guy struck me as authentic. Shoddy scripting combined with village hall acting did not make the minor characters shine, to say the least.

The action picks up slightly when Tony and Saori become a couple and we are introduced to Saori's parents. Jun Kunimura at least brings some acting kudos to the flick, charismatic in every scene he appears in. But those are far too few, and his talent merely serves to highlight the gap between him and the muggers around him. Ditto Shinobu Ôtake, a high-calibre talent who does her best with the meager fare the role offers.

The plot, what there is of it, makes no sense. Saori's father opposes the union, but we are meant to feel he changed his mind because he was learning English - despite the fact that Tony is fluent in Japanese. The setting appears to be contemporary, and Saori owns a mobile phone. But Tony learns of the birth of his nephew by snail mail. At the film's climax, Saori incredulously hops on a plane to visit Tony in the States without contacting him or carrying his phone number. She takes a taxi to his street, gets out, and bumps into him peeping at a wedding. Even in light-hearted fare such as this, such sloppy plot mechanics are insulting.

Mao Inoue as Saori pantomimes in that cringe-inducing style (overt pouts, muttered asides, talking to oneself in exposition) so ubiquitous in Japanese TV dramas these days. It's a pity she did not observe Kunimura more closely. Jonathan Sherr as Tony is as bland as white bread. One imagines the filmmakers were forced to compromise on acting ability, or Japanese language ability, and decided to sacrifice the former. The chemistry between Saori and Tony is best described as inert.

I know of, but have not read, the manga this is based on. Written by a Japanese female based on her real-life international marriage, I imagine, given its success, that it is poignant and keenly observed. It surely can't be as trite and shallow as this cinematic adaptation. The Japanese female who watched the film with me called My Darling is a Foreigner "lame". Given that she is herself a big fan of the TV dramas I find unfathomable, I'd say that is damning criticism.

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1/10

Worst movie ever

daniel_sjoholm15 January 2011

Warning: Spoilers

This movie is awful and makes no sense. There is more or less no story and nothing to be excited about. The biggest problem here doesn't seem to revolve around international romance and it's complications, but daily things such as how to wash clothes and dishes. The male lead foreigner in the movie doesn't know how to wash clothes and that makes the Japanese partner doubt if international marriage really is worth it. That is basically what this movie is about. Washing clothes. Couldn't they find something a little more interesting to portray in a movie about international romance in japan? Makes no sense, horrible acting and story, extremely slow paced. Boring. Worst movie ever.

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8/10

A Nutshell Review: My Darling is a Foreigner

DICK STEEL20 September 2010

Based on a manga series written by Saori Oguri (portrayed by Mao Inoue in this film version) about her own life with husband Tony Laszio (Jonathan Sherr), My Darling is a Foreigner takes on a delightful look at this thing called love that's to overcome the challenges of a cross- cultural and language barrier. While it's a theme that's not new, it's the approach that director Kazuaki Ue took with a whimsically fresh look and feel that will win you over, despite falling for the usual clichés as it builds toward an expected finale.

It begins almost documentary like, with Ue interviewing a myriad of couples who are into relationships with someone non-Japanese. Curiously enough though, that all those interviewed were couples where the guy is a foreigner, not the female, so I'm not sure if it's an accurate representation of what the demographics are actually like in Japan. These interview segments take on a question each, peppered throughout the narrative as a hook to the next chapter, offering that bit of comedy at times with their candid answers (well, at least I hope they weren't staged!)

One of the best bits in the film, is of course Saori's manga coming to life in animated segments, and being a published artist, I'd say her designs are quite kawaii (cute), that provides that caricature of herself and her bearded boyfriend in their adventures of a relationship starting from their relatively disastrous third date at a friend's party. They meet through serendipity, one being a budding artist providing her artistic services, and Tony being bitten by the language bug to decide to relocate to Japan to be where the action is.

Ultimately, the story isn't just solely about the comical situations arising from things lost in translation, or the obvious problems faced through the misunderstanding of culture. Rather, it's about how relationships tend to be rocky at times once past the honeymoon stage, and how two people have to find their own workaround of their unique problems. It's about how resilient one's relationship is from the inevitable external knocks, which is almost testament to how mature and stable it is to begin with, and I suppose love knows no boundaries to allow itself an interference from outside to come and derail it, unless hope is lost and no effort expended to try and reconcile.

The film's delivery is boosted by the fine performance by the leads, not to mention that they do make a pretty couple together, and being eye candy themselves never hurt a romantic comedy. Map Inoue brings about a shy yet steely young girl who's a klutz at times, but fiercely protective of her foreigner darling and perhaps working too much and too hard to trying to make the relationship work, which presents itself as one of the main obstacles in the film, barring her dad's non-consent. And the lanky Jonathan Sherr provides ample chemistry as the man still having lots to learn of the Japanese language and culture, often finding himself perplexed at their intricacies, while grappling with the simplest things such as communication, and being that house-husband he's set out to be.

My Darling is a Foreigner has real charm - you don't have to be in a similar relationship to identify with the characters and their situation, and perhaps it'll offer you suggestions and reminders not to take things for granted as well. Recommended!

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1/10

Garbage! Avoid at ALL costs! So bad it could get a cult following.

cdemackio20 May 2011

Warning: Spoilers

Worst movie EVER! So offensive there aren't enough expletives to express my disappointment. You get what you pay for and we got to see this for free so I suppose we (my Japanese wife and I) got what we deserved. From 5 minutes into the movie until the end I was basically chanting the phrase "This bu...t NEVER happens! No one is that stupid. Never happens!" If I were to invite my friends, or better my enemies, to play a drinking game as we watched this movie, with everybody drinking when they have had ANY of the experiences presented in the movie, our beers would pretty much be unopened. There is only ONE scene that I found vaguely true and that's when Tony, the boyfriend, asks for directions, in fluent Japanese, and the Japanese guy tells him he can't help because he doesn't speak English.

So, here we go! Stuff that NEVER happens that they try to make you think does happen in the movie (stretching the fingers because this is gonna take a while)

-Tony takes Saori (the girlfriend) to a party of ONLY foreigners, NO Japanese people.

-After arriving, Tony leaves Saori alone, even though she has shown some reluctance to be there because she can't speak English, for what seems like the entire party. This is their THIRD date!

-Saori stands against the wall alone in a party with about 50 foreigners. The only people who talk to her are one girl, who can translate some pretty complicated explanations about the art of manga but can't understand when Saori asks if she thinks Tony likes her or not, and a "Charisma" man who takes the time to insult her dream and chastise her for not speaking English, IN JAPAN, rather than try to pick her up! And he can't speak ANY Japanese!

-At the end of the party, and Tony's neglect, he brings her a plate of spinach? and she thinks this is kind and sweet?

-After the party, he walks her all the way to her house, doesn't ask to come in, doesn't try to kiss her, ON THE THIRD DATE! He just stares at her really uncomfortably for about a good 20 seconds. I found myself thinking "What?! Why are you staring at her?! WTF!" and then he turns around and wanders away making sure to stop and touch a tree, AT NIGHT, and pretend to be frightened when a dog barks.

-Tony goes to sushi with his friends and every time he takes a plate, his friends snatch it out of his hands. Oh yah, THAT happens. NOT.

-Tony goes to Saori's sister's wedding and her mother mistakes him for the priest who is 2 meters to her left, wearing a priests outfit, while Tony is wearing a tuxedo. First off, why is Tony wearing a tuxedo to his girlfriend's sister's wedding when he is NOT part of the wedding party? Who does that in real life? NOBODY!

-At the wedding still, Saori's brother, jokingly, remarks that he can't think of one good thing about his (just-married) sister that would make the guy want to marry her. Tony overhears and is shocked and quickly approaches the family to chastise them for insulting such a good person as Saori's sister, who has always been so kind to him. In other words, somehow Tony was able to become fluent in Japanese without knowing anything about the culture and at the same time not understanding it despite the fact that it is a very common thing in American culture. NEVER HAPPENS!

-Tony, an American man, CAN'T do dishes properly?! He doesn't know how to do laundry!? I'm an American guy, and I (and every guy I know) can cook, wash dishes, vacuum, do laundry, and iron. And Saori was so pleased when she saw that Tony did ALL THOSE DISHES (about 7 or 8 items)!

-Saori bought an expensive formal dress for when she meets Tony's mother. She never wears it and just hangs it up. Tony washes this. Oh, I do that too! Whenever I see something ON A HANGER that I have NEVER seen the wife wear, I take it down and wash it! I'm a heck of a guy!

I'm just gonna skip to the end because there's just way too much bull to write about. At the end, Saori goes to find Tony in America. Despite having the address to Tony's house, the taxi driver drops her off IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD! Yes, that's right, NOT in front of his house or anything. So, Saori wanders around the neighborhood wondering where Tony's house could possibly be (with address IN HAND!), not stopping to ask any of the foreigners walking by (earlier we see her studying English, yet she can't ask for directions?). In all the time I've lived in Japan, I've NEVER met a Japanese person who just showed up somewhere without a map (or two or three), phone number, address, GPS coordinates, or the ability to ask where something was.

As you can see, unless you want to have a guffawathon or want to naively believe Japan has so many clueless people, DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE!

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8/10

Adorably Enjoyable

totalovrdose5 June 2015

Part comedy, part romantic drama, My Darling is a Foreigner over exaggerates in its humorous depiction of foreigners, while additionally representing how people can feel particularly displaced in alien environments. Occasionally produced in documentary style format, in which couples comprised of a Japanese woman and a foreign man respond to questions regarding their relationship, with often comical answers, the film also incorporates brief narrative segments from lead character Saori (Mao Inoue), during which she discusses her professional and relationship status in English, the gradual improvement in her linguistic capabilities affirming her commitment to romancing a foreigner.

At the same time however, Saori's dedication towards other aspects of her life appears to wane, and despite her aspirations, she is certainly open to other considerations, a decision that puts her at odds with her father (Jun Kunimura), who doesn't appreciate her 'go with the flow' attitude. Moreover, despite Saori's desire to be a Manga artist being encapsulated on screen, through not only artistic imagery that helps move the plot along, especially in regards to how she met her boyfriend, Tony (Jonathon Sherr), but through her continuous struggles as an illustrator, this part of her life deserved further exposure, especially in regards to her passion, alongside its culture and reception.

Although Tony's ability to speak Japanese is exceptional, he does occasionally appear ignorant of Japanese cultural traditions and mannerisms, however these seem to have little impact on the issues faced during the relationship. Although Saori is initially bothered by her father's disapproval towards the love she and Tony feel for one another, which he vocalizes upon meeting him at her sister, Mika's (Ryoko Kuninaka) wedding, she appears willing to disobey his personal judgement, though Tony seems more inclined to respect her father's opinion, despite his personal dismay.

The negative experiences during the relationship appear to be related towards household chores, and the expression of issues in order to address bothersome concerns, however, those raised by Saori's father appear to accentuate these, the build-up of tension regarding the lead characters causing the audience to question whether the relationship has longevity.

Moving on, the film contains thought provoking moral lessons regarding cultural acceptance, which are especially voiced by Saori's mother (Shinobu Otake), who occasionally appears to be depicted as the heart of the production. The use of accommodating other beliefs and traditions, alongside adapting to changes and allowing room for the inclusion of alternate practices is subtly developed by the characters, and is appropriately used, which assists in establishing some emotionally tender moments.

Ms. Inoue deserves further credit for the adorable expressions she conveys during the film, which depict her disapproval and appreciation. With this thought in mind, it's Saori who often steals the show, which is further evident in the lack of exploration regarding Tony's character. Although discussions towards his profession are established, he is never shown in an occupational setting, though we assume he is beneficially adding to their income judging by their economically comfortable situation. At the same time, the foreign friends Tony affiliates with occasionally verbalize what can only be described as racial slurs towards Japanese culture, that make these characters difficult to appreciate.

Moreover, although the romantic climate of Saori and Tony's relationship is efficaciously produced, their affection being conveyed through verbal exchanges and chemistry, we are infrequently provided with physical examples of their feelings. I'm not advocating for any sensual material, however, even a peck on the cheek may have assisted in visually developing the relationship. This, and the addendum the film does not appear to always accurately convey the legitimate issues that may culturally arise between two people from different worlds, aside, My Darling is a Foreigner is a very sweet romance about the lengths people go to show their love, no matter how great the boundaries or differences.

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