Daniel Holder is on his way to Japan to collect the art paintings of his deceased son. The two of them had a falling out when Daniel’s son Mickey decided to move to Japan. Daniel still holds a grudge with the Japanese after his father was captured and killed as a POW in WWII. Needless to say his trip to Japan is a bit awkward. As he goes about trying to collect his sons paintings he discovers that there was a lot more about his son he didn’t know then he could have ever imagined.

The Harimaya Bridge is a very slow moving film but once it wraps itself up you get it. Weather or not you have been convinced it was a worthwhile trip is up to you. If you did like it you’ll also more then likely feel like watching the film again in order to capture the subtle characterizations of the film from technical perspectives as well as the up front emotional ones. For example, the film is in English and Japanese and includes English subtitles. However, the subtitles only pop up when a character in the film is speaking Japanese. During the times when Daniel’s Japanese assistants are translating or attempting to speak to him directly in English its not always easy to understand what their saying and a lack of subtitles is a bit frustrating. At first I thought this was an incredibly bad oversight, but as I continued to watch the film I realized that it was an ingenious way to help the viewer feel in step with Daniel in a foreign country where acts and words mean different things even when they are the same. You get that feeling of alienation and of being lost.

On an emotional level I felt in touch with Daniel and the major characters in the scheme of the storyline only a little. Obviously the circumstances for an absolute emotional connection have to be in place to truly get it. I have no family who died in war, no estranged sons or daughters that have died, or any of the other aspects of Daniel’s relationship with his son and Japan. There are some instances in the film that are very human though, mostly concerning a universal thought that discrimination is alive anywhere and everywhere, and even smaller pieces here and there that very nearly brought me to tears. As I said though, the film is very slow going, and if you can watch the entire film all the way through it has its rewards.

QUALITY:
Picture quality for the film is amazing. Aside from some slight aliasing clarity is amazingly acute putting on display every pore, giving you the opportunity (if it should strike you) to count every single hair on Ben Guillory’s chin, and the ability to truly appreciate every work of art in the film down to its last detail. Color is magnificent which is fantastic because the film’s landscapes are beautiful from the blue sky to the dense greens. Audio is very humbling with a deep resonating dialogue channel and a subtle space for the soundtrack to do its job without effecting the flow and mood of the overall film. There isn’t much use for a full spectrum presentation so everything is mostly front heavy, but the audio does its job just fine.

BONUS FEATURES:
~Making-Of: This 20+ minute feature talks about how the film was made, the collaboration and cooperation a cast that was both Japanese and American. I had hoped it would have gone over a more in depth look at the film and its story but it’s really just a technical feature.
~Cast Interviews
~Staff Interviews
~Director Commentary: I didn’t use this feature when I watched the film, but like I said, the film seems to leave a lot of what you’ve seen undiscovered the first time around and will definitely look to the DC for a more in depth explanation on the film.
~Previews: Mostly films I’ve already seen but one in particular that stands out is Treasure Hunter starring Jay Chou. It looks pretty like an Indiana Jones meets The Good, The Bad, and The Weird meets The Mummy. It’s just all over the map as far as visual style and action. Looks incredibly good.
~DVD