My Darling is a Foreigner
June 11th, 2010Got to watch a free screening of Darling wa Gaikokujin yesterday evening (courtesy of New York-Tokyo and ANA). I was genuinely excited to see this movie: I genuinely like INOUE Mao and the story sounded like a light & breezy flick, a perfect summer movie, as it were.
Darling wa Gaikokujin follows Saori, a young aspiring manga artist and Tony, her American boyfriend. The film shows them tackling issues that could be expected of any cross-cultural relationship; some of them easy, some harder. I like that the movie chose to hone in on a central issue, that is, Saori’s father disapproving of their relationship, as what they needed to overcome, and not the silly stuff like the language or other cliche cultural jokes. If you think about it, even in relationships where you and your partner have the same background or ethnicity, your family may still not approve. It becomes not about Japanese vs American, but about family and values.
As expected, Inoue was the best part of the movie. She’s charming and the camera loves her. Even when she’s sitting in silence, her face and her body are so expressive. As Saori, she obviously has to speak English at certain points in the movie, and while not perfect, she makes a good attempt to speak the language.
I wish that they had found another actor to play the role of Tony, though. I’m sure Jonathan Sherr is a capable actor, but I didn’t really feel the chemistry between him and Inoue. There were moments where he would look at her (or the camera) and his movements are so stilted. I know that the character is supposed to be a little bit weird (with his fascination with unusual Japanese expressions) but I wanted to believe that these two persons loved each other so much that they won’t let a silly little thing such as cultural expectations and differences break them apart.
Also — my feminist wiles were all up in a furor when (1) Tony left her to fend for herself in that party (2) she excuses Tony’s fumbling ways in the house because if she complains, then she might as well do the chores herself. First off — if you’re bringing a (girl)friend to a party where she doesn’t know anybody (much less speak the language of the majority of the group), you should at least stay with her for a few minutes and introduce her to your friends. Tony’s behavior made him appear like Mr. #1 Douche. And, boys do not have the “I’m a bachelor” excuse for not knowing how to do things around the house. Did he not do laundry or wash dishes when he was living by himself? Domestic duties are NOT the domain of women alone; this is 2010, man up.
Overall, this was an okay movie. I’m sad that I didn’t get a copy of the DMP manga when it was published, but I’m happy that the movie has generated interest for the Japanese publisher to release a book with their own English translations.

