‘Sidonie in Japan’ Review: A Haunted Isabelle Huppert Gives This Gently Drifting Ghost Story a Soul
variety.comGuy Lodge Film Critic The mythology around Japan as a nation of everyday ghosts — where the living and the dead share space, occasionally in view of each other — can lead certain western filmmakers into dubious territory: If you don’t recall how Gus van Sant floundered with the mawkish, condescending exoticism of “The Sea of Trees,” trust that it’s best forgotten.
Centered on a long-grieving Frenchwoman who finally makes peace with her husband’s death over the course of a Japanese work trip, “Sidonie in Japan” risks similar pitfalls — but Élise Girard’s droll, bittersweet romance mostly dodges them with grace and good humor, plus a pointed awareness of the limitations of its outsider perspective.
Premiering in the Venice Days sidebar at this year’s Venice Film Festival, this is a sweetly unassuming affair that is given some vinegary oomph by the presence of Isabelle Huppert in the lead — which will doubtless secure “Sidonie in Japan” more international distributor attention than it would otherwise receive.
Still, much as the film benefits from the star’s signature quizzical semi-froideur, it’s not a solo showcase, growing gradually into a winning two-hander between Huppert and Tsuyoshi Ihara (best known internationally for his prominent role in Clint Eastwood’s “Letters From Iwo Jima”) as her unlikely chaperone and suitor.
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