The Japanese Wife

Last evening I watched a movie called The Japanese Wife by one of my favorite directors, Aparna Sen. Quite honestly, I think Ms. Sen holds that position in my mind, not only for her superlative movie making skills, but also because she’s so stunning, possesses a charming Bengali intellect and finally for a reason that makes absolutely no sense, visited my parent’s home when I was a little boy!

The Japanese Wife, adapted from a short story by Kunal Basu is about Snehamoy, a young man living in small town Bengal, and Miyagi, a young Japanese girl, both of who are manic introverts and who find friendship, love and their life partners without ever having met. Their friendship bonds into marriage when Miyagi sends him a silver wedding band engraved with her name and Snehamoy responds by sending her vermilion for the parting in her hair and conch shell bangles, both of which signify a woman's marital status in Bengal.

The movie reminded me of the play Love Letters, as much of it is shown through letters that the two protagonists write to each other over a period of seventeen years.

Snehamoy lives with his aunt who tries to fix him up with her God-daughter at which point he confesses to her that he is already married. Several years later the God-daughter who loses her husband, comes to live with them along with her young son.

The movie is largely about Snehamoy’s relationships with Miyagi, his aunt, her God-daughter and the little boy. Except for the kite flying sequence, The Japanese Wife is a quiet movie that one has to feel from the inside.

It’s no surprise that the lead characters live in remote towns, where lives are simple, expectations low, dreams free and joys many. I have no idea if such places continue to exist, but to me the movie was set in a different time. A time that, although I’ve never experienced personally, having always lived in a large metropolis, do believe used to exist. A time that Ms. Sen took me to, using all her creative and technical tools of cinematography, music, dialogues, location choices, body language etc.

In this age of instant gratification, can one really fathom a long distance friendship that transforms into love, culminates in marriage and embeds into a commitment that only gets deeper over time? Can love really be built out of words (writing in English, which both of them are not fluent in), photographs and memorabilia? The movie makes you believe in all of the above and that to me is a huge triumph.

In this age of 3D, larger than life characters, over the top sequences, special effects, etc etc, can a small, heartbreaking movie like The Japanese Wife really work? I think we all know the answer to that, but I will continue to believe that it did and it will. And I thank the film makers who bring a small group of people a large amount of joy by believing in the same thing.