Tokyo Fiancée

Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by bestselling French-language author Amélie Nothomb, Tokyo Fiancée begins as an engaging, infectiously happy tale, and ends with its central character being far more somber, if also wiser. Strategically set in 2011 before a major historical event, this tale of a young woman who finds some missing part of her identity by immersing herself in a foreign culture stars Pauline Etienne as 20-year-old Amélie, a pixie-ish, French-language Belgian tutor born in Tokyo who is now returning as an ardent Japanophile. Hooked on the country's glitzy zeitgeist and youth culture, Amélie slowly learns of much deeper traditions and complexities when she falls for handsome student Rinri (Taichi Inoue). Initially giddy over their new relationship, Amélie eventually realizes that Rinri—like many Japanese men—is slow to fully reveal his inner self. Writer-director Stefan Liberski does a masterful job of modulating the film's energy, from an initial playfulness and joy to a far heavier sense of polarization that is made far worse by the Fukushima disaster. Etienne and Inoue are both very good as budding adults who have yet to find their bearings in a world of hard distinctions and consequences. Recommended. (T. Keogh)