mattogaijin
I was so look forward so seeing this, because my children are half Asian half white. But I was so shocked that they didn't include any Asian/White couples. It made me feel like the producers support Apartheid - keep all whites over here and put all others over there.I lived in Japan many years with my husband and loved it. Anyone who lives there knows you can't throw a stone there without hitting a Japanese / White couple . But somehow the producers of this film couldn't find any such couples to interview? No way. It was intentional and therefore divisive and racist. One star.
Pier Giorgio Girasole
When we think about US or Europe we cannot avoid thinking of a so called melting pot culture. Nowadays as a matter of fact many foreigners, once immigrants, refugees or simply people who wanted to change the place they lived, are making new our traditions, societies and economies. Sometimes they restored what was lost. This happens since people are living beings and society they create changes as well as and together with them. However another country of the so called developed world seems to be different. A country where a monolithic culture is said to be present. We are speaking about Japan. And if we think this way we are doing a huge mistake. For two main reasons. And this movies make us understand this more clearly. First, Japan has a culture made of an unique syncretism since centuries. Most of the writing as well the Buddhism and the tea arrived from the continent and the modern lifestyle from the West. Maybe nowhere, as in Japan, cultures were so accepted and suited by the people. Second, modern Japanese are traveling around the world as well as many people are visiting Japan for the same many reasons (work, tourism, study). Maybe in this second case the numbers are not so high as in other countries of the West (the 2% according to this movie) but still higher than in the past. This second reason in particular is important since it shows how Japan society is going to change or, if it hasn't already started, need to. People differ as well as cultures. But the feelings are the same. So loving someone and having a family is a natural fact. And a fact that can show a new social perspective, however, that can brings a lot of benefits too. This is what is going nowadays in Japan. A country facing a new reality. Or, in other words, a new challenge. Watching this film we understand that mixed roots families and new born children are rising. They are the so called Hafu or half people, mixed. And this production is about them. First of all this term is not offensive since only Japanese use it and with no racist intention. Then, as this movies explain, many of the hafu raised in Japan prefer living there still trying however to make them more accepted as an unique heritage of experience and point of view in a country facing a lot of problems. As the decreasing of birth rate. In addition, because of their mixed culture of origin they can help mutual understandings between Japan and the rest of the World,necessary in particular in this period of worldwide tension. On the other hand, we witness how Japanese half people raised outside the Land of Rising Sun, can visit it to discover their old heritage while growing up as individuals before going back. Since society is changing accepting the other is a challenge that, if won, can bring a lot of advantages. Japan can do it. As did in the past with cultural traditions. And this movie should make think how important is a new generation not only of Japanese half people but of new individuals that can make a place, in this case Japan, where different roots can be shared and join to create something new. The overall pace of this film is that of a documentary film with the stories of five hafu showing the hardships as well as the moments of happiness they have as any other else. But what makes this movie a good instrument of analysis, as well as a different view of society, is that underlines how the unique heritage this people have, must be considered not an obstacle but and advantage, not only for the themselves, but for all the society. For the future Japan. That, we hope, can be more mixed rooted. More HALF.
G W
The number 1 reason why anyone would watch this film is because they are half-Japanese or have a half-Japanese family member. People have been giving this film a high rating but that is probably only because there haven't been any other (notable) films that cover this topic. One could see this film as an "introduction to the half-Japanese experience". However, this film fails quite a bit as a documentary film. Great documentary films tend to expose viewers to an aspect of a particular person's life and makes them ask questions that they didn't even consider before. However, the filmmakers' visions are muddled and their approach is questionable.This film follows four half Japanese people and one biracial family. Sophie, an Australian Japanese girl who is Australian and grew up in Australia. She goes to Japan, lives with her Japanese relatives, and purports that she's interested in learning Japanese but quickly gives up her studies and only hangs out with English speakers. Unlike the other three subjects that grew up in Japanese culture, her experience seems a bit out of place. Furthermore, the filmmakers' main statement for this film is about "how Japan is becoming multinational". I'm not really sure why they would cover a subject who gave up on Japan without really trying to learn Japanese or its custom. I went to see this film with an Australian friend who actually worked hard to learn adequate Japanese and she was pretty annoyed by this.The other subjects are more enlightening. However, instead of "showing", this film "tells". One subject states "how tiring it can be to continuously having to explain his background". The filmmakers could have easily accumulated footage of him being constantly asked the same thing over and over again or other Japanese people reacting with bewilderment. However, such scenes were non-existence(there was one quick scene that briefly address this). It felt like a poetry reading than an actual film.One subject's story mainly focuses on the group he's running rather than his story and it felt like an advertisement for the organization rather than a documentary. Again, it really felt out of place. And although I am biased, I have had dealt with Mixed Roots Japan before and my opinion of them are pretty poor. I'm sure they have done some good but I find their views to be pretty strict and are extremely unwilling to consider other views and their focus on race is intense to the point that it is pretty racist. The members would go on about how they want more "half black members" and get excited when there's one. I personally have never treated people based on their color and to me, this is treating people as a curio object and not as a person. I find their views really disturbing and I personally don't want them to represent the entire biracial community in Japan. Overall, it's good to have a film like this. However, as a documentary film, it fails miserably and unless you have a significant interest in this topic, you'll be coming out disappointed. I wasn't convinced that "Japan is becoming more multicultural" and the anecdotes within this film are mostly self-contained and you don't see these subjects interacting with "the regular non-biracial Japanese crowd" that much. Biracial people have lives outside of biracial group they are running or telling anecdotes about their experiences. This documentary could have explored what their day to day lives were like and given a more overarching glimpse into their lives.
