Japanese Story is an emotional rollercoaster of a movie that rivals Lantana, Samson & Delilah and Animal Kingdom for the title of the best Australian drama of the 21st century.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 19, 2023

Collette's pitch-perfect performance and the stunning evocation of the forbidding and beautiful outback make this film unexpectedly rewarding.

| Sep 29, 2017

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Mar 18, 2013

A beautiful piece of filmmaking with top notch acting...

| Apr 29, 2009

Despite an uninspiring first half, the film delivers a strong emotional impact in its final reels.**

| Aug 23, 2004

An underdeveloped film that requires all of [Collette's] ample skills merely to rise to the mediocre.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 20, 2004

A heartbreaking and complex film about human relationships.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 20, 2004

Lots of pictures begin strongly only to lose their focus; this one gains momentum with every sequence -- ambivalent at first, we're firmly hooked by the final frame.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 20, 2004

Tsunashima gives a deft performance in a role that starts out as caricature but becomes full-bodied. Collette commands the screen virtually the entire time.

Full Review | Aug 7, 2004

Mixing cultural comedy, survival tension, unlikely romance and an extreme about turn, it's a moving and unusual film.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 16, 2004

A raw emotional journey in which character is everything -- although the scenery is spectacular.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 4, 2004

It's powerful, but fatally contrived

| Jun 2, 2004

Japanese Story gives Australian actress Toni Collette a chance to demonstrate the full range of her acting skills in a cross-cultural tale filled with many surprises.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 28, 2004

Tender, original and moving.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 18, 2004

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 14, 2004

The film acts as a tale of human strengths and frailty as well as a barometer of cultural diversity.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 29, 2004

The conflict ... is all internal, and that's the problematic conceit on which Japanese Story turns.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 23, 2004

Starts off promisingly. Eventually, though, it collapses into melodrama.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 23, 2004

An embarrassing bit of housewife Orientalism erotica... that easily could be summarized by Monty Python's "I Like Chinese" song.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 13, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Apr 9, 2004