The Japanese Wife

Aparna Sen did it again or to be precise even better than before. What all ingredients you want in a romantic movie, probably you won't find them in The Japanese Wife. But more importantly they have a story to tell and they told it very subtly.

Snehamoy (Rahul Bose) a school teacher in an Indian village fell in love Miyage (Chigusa Takaku) through the medium of letters; and so does Miyage. That love turns to marriage and hence starts their married life without seeing each other in person. There are many movies with similar theme, but most of them ends here. That's the different, this movie starts with their marriage. It was refreshing to see how they carry forward their marriage on letters. There are only letters for first half and hour or so. There are lovely little village incidents (kite flying, etc.) all through the movie. And ended on a perfect note.

Full marks to Rahul Bose for getting in Snehamoy's skin. Convincing performance from rest of the cast. The best part about the movie is quite vivid and imaginative use of props, background and music.

Though I am not a big fan of romantic movies. I enjoyed the movie to the core with my limited Bengali. Try and get a copy with English subtitle if possible.

Take away - watch it till the end, u'll be reward.

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 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.

"One day I will come to you floating down this river (river Matla) just like a sailing boat" a platonic love that needs no technical gizmos and beyond the constrains of cultural, language, distance, social dogmas .... 'A rare gem' as many film makers call this movie, a poignant story, a smooth soft flow ..

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.