The Japanese Wife

The Japanese Wife is quite different from what we generally see in the trash of Bollywood. The use of symbolism in various scenes is quite evident in the movie. Though I find the scenario of the Bengali village very backward, may be because I am from metropolis. This is a brilliant piece of work by the crew. It is a Love story that is the only thing I want to tell as I don't want to spoil the fun of watching it. Meaning of the Love and Marriage is redefine in it. The only disappointment is that there is the use of Bangla/Bengali language in major part of the movie which I as an non-Bengali unable to understand. But even then it evoke emotions within me. And I took the whole pain of registering here on this website just to write that it is a MUST WATCH movie. Hoping that distributors might be giving some subtitle along with the DVD for this movie.

The story is quite far fetched - pen pals in 2 different remote areas of India and Japan respectively decided to marry without seeing each other and to carry on a long marriage in a long distance relationship. Overall, a hidden gem - well made, well executed, touching, heart warming and entertaining. Very beautifully shot too. Highly recommend.

In a poor island in the countryside of India, the school teacher Snehamoy Chatterjee (Rahul Bose) becomes the pen friend of the Japanese Miyage (Chigusa Takaku). When his aunt Mashi (Moushumi Chatterjee) wants to marry him with the young Sandhya (Raima Sen), he engages in a marriage commitment with Miyage that becomes his Japanese wife. However, neither he can afford to travel to Japan nor Miyage can leave her old mother alone to travel to India. Meanwhile Sandhya marries and has a son.

After fifteen years, she gets widowed and moves to Mashi's house. But Snehamoy is still married with Miyage without seeing each other. When his Japanese wife has cancer, Snehamoy consults Indians doctors trying to find a cure for Miyage. Will they finally be together after all those years?

"The Japanese Wife" is a delicate romance about platonic love. The original story is very beautiful, despite the sad and unpredictable conclusion, and for Westerns like me it is a chance to see the costumes and behavior of the Indians. The music score is also very beautiful and suits perfectly to the film.

I just regret that the responsible for the subtitles have not noticed that yellow subtitles in white background are absolutely illegible. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

The malleability of the plausible emotions of the lead characters of the film under the director's realistic hammer blows is one of the features which makes 'The Japanese Wife' a treat to watch. The slow pace touches upon the various chords of a sensible heart. The two star-crossed spouses residing in far-off places fall in love and eventually marry without actually meeting each other in person, yet their love is far more loyal and inextricable than those lovers or spouses who stay together. But, their simple lifestyle and righteousness do them in at last. Poetic justice is not meted out and this makes the plot all the more plausible. Given the profound dynamism and the many facets of human emotions that run crisscross along the length & breadth of the movie, one is sure to identify with the pristine humanity of the characters. Minimalism in music and natural, yet far from being a dime a dozen, musically lyrical words and sentences coupled with a haunting silence of death touch up the aggravating pathos of the characters till the very end.

The film is excellent. I don't clasify it as a romantic film. I think it's a film about human relationships and values. People from western (the so-called 'developted') countries, cannot even understand the behavior in such societies. So you may read some comments that the film is not ...realistic (!), or so. Hollywood film watchers have totally lost the ability to understand a piece of art. The first think that comes to mind is that money in such societies is not the goal but just a mean. Kindness, generosity. support etc prevail. Love is pure and without expecting something in return. This is not the exception but the rule. This is not something artificial, as people in west may think. It's a result of the social construction, (the lack of capitalism if you prefer a political or economical term). If seen under this perspective everything is easily understood: Why the aunt is so supportive, the devotion that Snehamoy has to his 'wife', the attitude of the widow, both against Snehamoy and his 'wife', at the end of the film. The directing is pretty good, and so I think for the acting. I really enjoyed and I heartily recommend it.