Karakara

This is the type of film one watches and wonders what else is out there that no one has ever heard of.

The film did several things for me. It reminded me that watching unknown films may be rewarding. It made me wonder if I should travel to Okinawa as the scenery was beautiful (although unfortunately there is a lot of military there) and made me interested in exploring these actors more.

The story centres on a Canadian tourist who is in mourning and visits Okinawa and befriends a local lady who becomes his companion on the road. In the process, she teaches him manners and he teaches her joy and sorrow. At times I did wonder if he is homosexual however. When a pretty girl offers to travel with you how can you say no or get angry about it?

I enjoyed this Canada-Japan co-production for a number of reasons. First, it brought me the beautiful scenery of Okinawa, a place I know little about previously, and its art of making cloth from the fibre of banana trees. Now I have a strong urge to visit there some day to sample the beauty and tranquillity of that location. Second, this is, in a way, a romance story between an ageing, depressed and lonely baby-boomer from Quebec and a pretty Japanese woman much younger. So it is a story about an older male and a younger female, and hence a formula plot for male fantasy. Mine for sure.

Direction by Claude Gagnon, who did C.R.A.Z.Y. in the past, is solid, and acting by both actors very believable. However, because of its subject matter, I don't think the younger folks will enjoy this film as much as the older folks.

Although there is no nudity in the films but on two occasions you are treated to the screams (of joy, I assume, and I mean real screams) from a woman at the height of her sexual activities with an older man. So we may have some credibility issue here. Another point is any man that can please a woman to that extent could simply have no reason to be depressed. That would be my thought.

At first I thought that this was a bad movie as the dialogue was so stilted. Then it occurred to me that neither actor is acting in their first language. It all fits. Once you get that into your head, Karakara starts to grow on you. The photography is spectacular - Okinawa is one of those forgotten spots on earth. Fortunately, no traces of the battles of WW2 intrude into the beauty of the place.

Just a few quibbles. Karakara moves slowly as an Asian romance should yet Yuki kudo's character falls into bed too easily with Gabriel Arcand. An old guy's fantasy. The other quibble is with the subtitles. The version I saw on Netflix had no English translation of the all-Japanese dialogue. Some of it was obvious but would have loved to have a translation of Yuki Kudo's tryst with the "gai-jin".

Overall recommended