My Review of Japanese Story: After seeing this film, I felt a sense of how powerful a relationship can grow in a matter of days. Mixed in with cultural differences and non-verbal's, this film does an excellent job of showing how two people from two diverse sides of the world can get closer than most couples who live in the same town. The acting is believable and effective with each character showing their thoughts and views through their body language and actions. There is distinct, and precise direction in this film and I applaud Sue Brooks for that. She has made a Romance that truly stands out and surprises most with unexpected events. Some may see it hard to like our two protagonists Hiromitsu and Sandy from the start, but as the film progresses, you do start to care and learn about them. Some of these characters are willing to break oaths in order to achieve those desires, while another may break standard rules. There are character arcs in this story and it really is worth watching. Coming from someone who recently wrote, lit, shot and directed a film with no dialog this film does non-verbal communication right. I'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the romance/drama genre.

I was not sure if I could get into the story line of the movie at first. I didn't want to keep watching it until halfway through. At that point I became emotionally attached to the characters. I ended up loving the movie! It's a beautiful and surprising film that makes you feel the emotions the characters are going through. There were several times I was shocked as to what turns the movie makes. If you want to enjoy the movie have an open mind. It's a little confusing at times but keep watching!I enjoyed watching the cultural differences and how the interactions between the characters unfolded. More than anything the movie captures emotions and feelings between two people that unexpectedly found love.

Japanese Story is a fantastic Indie film. I was actually required to watch this film for a nonverbal communication course in college. I am quite happy that this film was chosen to be analyzed, otherwise I may have not seen it. Not only did this film teach me more about nonverbal interactions but also benefited me as a filmmaker. As an aspiring director and cinematographer, analyzing films is the best kind of homework. If you have not seen this film, I recommend you to watch it. Right from the beginning the film had me fully immersed into the story. It was almost as if there was a mystery was hidden in the plot that kept me intrigued. This film has a well written story with a major twist in the plot that you will never see coming!

I actually don't know why I watched the whole thing. It's very serious and awkward. Especially the sex scene when the woman takes off her clothes, then puts HIS pants on? I'm not sure what was going on here, but I just couldn't get into it. Someone said it was a lot like the Painted Veil, and yes, maybe so except for the fact that I liked the Painted Veil. There's little music. And the whole movie was just bad and poorly put together... it doesn't seem very cohesive to me. It didn't make sense.... after they do it while she wears his pants, she asks to get her things back from his room. So she carries her bra, in her hands, out in the open, back to her car. I've been stuck in the desert before too and everyone knows you put rocks or sticks or something hard underneath the tires... they just clowned around. BAD movie. Bad. Bad. Bad.