TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

“To the Ends of the Earth” is Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's latest film and his first pure drama since 2008's “Tokyo Sonata”. Without genre troupes to fall back on, Kurosawa does a lovely job of portraying a young woman's story as she goes through self discovery and has her eyes opened to another culture, whilst reporting on the country for a famous Japanese travel program for television.

Yoko is a reporter for a Japanese variety show, and her latest assignment sees her in the middle of Uzbekistan, which is situated in central Asia. While reporting on the local amusement park, lakes said to contain mythical fish, and small roadside cafes, Yoko finds herself going through a personal crisis as she becomes more aware of the fact that she is getting further and further away from her dream to become a singer. Away from the cameras of the show, Yoko explores the local landscape with more meaning and without the distractions of home, starts to pinpoint exactly what she wants out of life, all while becoming more familiar and accepting of a culture far different from her own.

Despite the fact that “To the Ends of the Earth” was not a genre exercise for Kiyoshi Kurosawa, I was still greatly looking forward to it. The rather brief trailer for the film really caught my attention, though I cannot say why exactly, and the fact that it was set in Uzbekistan, a country that until now I knew nothing about, I had the feeling that this film was going to, at the very least, be interesting. Thankfully, it didn't disappoint and I really enjoyed “To the Ends of the Earth” a great deal. It is quite unlike anything Kurosawa has done before and yet, it felt like a Kurosawa film through and through. The genesis behind this project was to create a film to commemorate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Uzbekistan, as well as the 70th anniversary of the Navoi Theater in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which was constructed by Japanese prisoners of war after World War II. Kurosawa was commissioned to write and direct the film, and personally I think he has done a wonderful job of telling an actual story, placing it within Uzbekistan, without making the whole thing a boring travelogue of the country.

There are a number of fantastic little touches and observations about travelling that Kurosawa makes within this film. One aspect I loved very early on was the feeling of anxiety one can feel when travelling, especially to a country whose language is different from your own. The stress of trying to communicate to someone, the irrational fear when someone attempts to talk to you and you do not understand, trying to master the local currency and public transport, the feeling that everyone is looking at you because you are different, even something as simple as crossing the road in a new place; Kiyoshi Kurosawa expertly captures these feelings and at least for me, this is the best example on film that I can remember of this anxiety being portrayed. Kurosawa is assisted wonderfully well by his leading actress Atsuko Maeda, who plays Yoko, and gets across these emotions perfectly. I could feel everything she was going through and relate from my own past experiences travelling. I could feel her angst and tension, especially early on. Another aspect I loved was the difference between Yoko when she is onscreen as opposed to off of it. When filming, Yoko has that over the top exuberance and super bubbly personality that seems to be the norm of Japanese television, however once the cameras are turned off she is just like the rest of us; prone to feeling down and being totally unsure of herself. In essence, she is playing a character when presenting the wonders and joys of Uzbekistan. Also, it is interesting that she is treated less like a person and more like a prop by the behind the scenes crew of the television show. What she feels or wants is given little thought by her crew, which further adds to the alienation she feels in this strange new world.

However it is because of this lack of connection to her crew members that she heads out into the streets of Uzbekistan and experiences the “real” life and culture there. The lakes, amusement park and food stalls she visits during production of her show are all well and good, but do not really express what the country and its people are like properly. I guess you could say that Kurosawa is taking a swipe at the shallowness of these travel shows and what they portray on them. While I would not say that Yoko delves into the culture with any extreme depth, at least she experiences things there for herself, even if these things scare her or do not initially make sense to her. It is fair to say that by the end of the film, her eyes have been opened wider to a culture outside of her own, even if she does not fully understand it. She learns to except that while things may not make sense within her own thoughts and beliefs, these same things can mean a whole lot more to the locals, which is expressed in the scenes with the goat.

My favourite scene of the film is the one that, unsurprisingly, takes place in the Navoi Theater. It is a scene unlike any other within the film as it has a dreamlike ambience to it, as Yoko almost instinctively finds her way there, where she then fantasises about singing in the theatre with the large orchestra backing her. It is a beautiful scene, and it is where Yoko has the full realisation that she does indeed want to still become a singer, and you get the feeling she is going to chase that dream with more conviction once she gets back home to Japan. I mentioned earlier that thankfully the film wasn't just a travelogue of Uzbekistan, showing all the “beautiful” places of the country. I guess it was inevitable for a film that was made to celebrate said theatre, that it would show up in the film, but I really liked the way Kurosawa included it within the film. I also like when it was brought up by the crew's translator to shoot a segment of the show there, it was shot down by the director for not being something the audience would find interesting (which is just ridiculous). This just after we hear the heartwarming story from the Uzbek translator on how he was inspired by the story behind the making of the theatre to dedicate his life in helping the Japanese.

I was really impressed with Kiyoshi Kurosawa's direction within “To the Ends of the Earth” and really felt he was at the peak of his powers here. Together with his regular cinematographer Akiko Ashizawa, they create a much different look than is usual for the pair, focusing on brightly lit open spaces and landscapes, and the very colourful textures within the markets and bazaars. I thought the use of the colour orange was bold and worked wonderfully well, and gave the film a unique feeling to it, and suited the landscapes perfectly. Little subtle moments of lighting change that occur almost subliminally, happen quite regularly within the film too to indicate a shift in either time or mood and this is another element that I thought was very well handled. The casting of Atsuko Maeda in the lead role of Yoko was perfect. This is Maeda's third film for Kurosawa after “Seventh Code” and “Before We Vanish”, but I have to say that this is her best outing so far with the director. Not only is she in almost every scene in the film, but she also gets to display a huge range of emotions and moods throughout the story and does so effortlessly. She also gets to sing in two scenes of the film where her character really lights up and comes alive. The rest of the cast doesn't have as much to do, but all are quite good in their roles. Shota Sometani, (in a role much smaller than I am used to seeing him in), plays the somewhat disinterested director of the show, Ryo Kase is excellent as the show's cameraman, and Uzbek actor Adiz Rajabov is the surprise standout playing the group's translator.

Overall, I was really quite impressed with “To the Ends of the Earth” which ends up being something of a character study of Yoko, and the way her eyes open to a new culture whilst at the same time growing within herself. While different than anything Kiyoshi Kurosawa has made previous, what remains the same is his great direction and expertise behind the camera. I have the feeling that “To the Ends of the Earth” will be one of those films that ends up being under-seen, but if you do get the chance to see it, please do not hesitate to do so; you will not be disappointed. I now must patiently look forward to Kurosawa's next film, the period set suspense thriller “Wife of a Spy”.

3.5 Stars.