"West, Northwest"; A Japanese Lesbian Girl and a Religious Iranian Girl

It is rare to find a Japanese film with an Iranian character as one of the main roles; however, in a new film from Japan, an Iranian girl plays one of the two lead roles. The film, titled "West, Northwest," directed by Takuro Nakamura, premiered at the Busan Film Festival. The film begins with this Iranian character, who is seen trying to obtain a residency visa in Japan. From her phone call in Persian, we (and not the Japanese or non-Iranian audience, as her Persian dialogue is not subtitled) understand that she is apparently unsuccessful. Alone and desperate in a café, she attracts the attention of a Japanese girl, who moments earlier was crying. Her loud speaking in Persian in the café provokes an exaggerated objection from a Japanese man. The film resorts to common clichés: a helpless foreigner who has no one, and even speaking in another language brings about racist objections. We soon learn that her name is Naimeh Tehrani, a student nearing graduation in Japanese painting, but she intends to stay in the country. She is a veiled girl who not only does not remove her hijab on the streets of Japan but also, curiously, still wears it when alone in a room with another woman! This kind of thinking about the "Muslim woman" merely follows clichés that seem to be much more powerful in Japan than, for example, in Europe. As a result, the filmmaker has predetermined answers to his questions and does not even bother to conduct simple research to see whether a religious Iranian woman would wear a hijab in front of another woman alone in a room or if it is believable that a Tehran girl studying in Japan—especially in an artistic field—would only be concerned with finding the direction of prayer. The film apparently aims to challenge the usual clichés about foreigners (especially the character Ai, who refuses to wear the hat that the Iranian girl has on and exaggeratedly wants to clean all the sheets thinking a "foreigner" has slept on them), but ultimately, due to the superficiality of relationships and characters, the film can only expand the Japanese audience's xenophobia by providing incorrect information about an Iranian. The character of Naimeh appears very raw and primitive; played by Sahar Roza, who migrated to Japan with her family as a child and speaks Persian with an accent, she undoubtedly has incomplete information about her homeland; otherwise, as the main actress of the film, she could have pointed out many inaccuracies (such as wearing a hijab indoors). Naimeh lacks decision-making power and appears very weak. Throughout the film, her issues revolve around maintaining her hijab, praying, and finding the qibla, and when she learns that her new friend is a lesbian, she looks at her in such surprise as if she has encountered a homosexual person for the first time in her life (Ai also speaks with disdain about "her country" and the existence of homosexuality and the differences between the two cultures). The film is apparently supposed to tell a love story: the love of a Japanese lesbian girl for a religious veiled Iranian girl. At first glance, it may seem like an interesting story, but the slow pace of the film and lack of character development do not engage us with the two main characters. "Ki," the Japanese girl, is certainly more reasonably developed, but regarding Naimeh, we are faced with a ghost who cannot evoke the viewer's empathy at all. On the other hand, from the moment Ki's interest in Naimeh is established, the film moves in a direction that suggests the Iranian girl will eventually develop feelings for her despite her beliefs, and a relationship will form. However, the film—moving at a very slow pace and struggling to progress—ultimately shows no signs of this girl's inner feelings and does not even clarify whether Naimeh has any feelings for this girl and refrains from the relationship due to her beliefs or if such feelings do not exist in her at all. Consequently, we are confronted with a confused film where its cold characters remain distant from us, and the cold atmosphere of the setting—relying on long shots—contrasts with a warm sense of love (which the filmmaker apparently wants to narrate), resulting in a caricature of an Iranian girl that, with an unresolved ending, sends the viewer home with a plethora of predetermined clichés about religion and Iran.