Best "Fish Out of Water" Movies

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 8:37 -0700

There are hundreds of films about a foreigner arriving in a far-off land, but clashing cultures are never more pronounced than an American (or any Westerner, for that matter) in Japan. It's an interesting little sub-genre not many people seem to know about.

Here's a list of "Gaijin Movies" that I'm aware of. If you happen to know any other titles yourself, feel free to add. Any movie about a Japanese guy trying to find his way in America would be welcome, too.

1. Shogun
2. Gung Ho
3. Mr. Baseball
4. The Grudge
5. The House Where Evil Dwells
6. Lost in Translation
7. The Manster
8. The Hunted
9. Beverly Hills Ninja
10. Black Rain
11. Imprint (episode of "Masters of Horror")
12. Dream Cruise (ditto)

Jet_Jaguar · Post by **Jet_Jaguar** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:33 -0700

You could also add Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and The Last Samurai to that list.

A pretty good "American goes to Japan" movie that I would recommend is John Frankenheimer's The Challenge (aka Sword of the Ninja). You really can't go too wrong with anything that Toshiro Mifune is in. Unfortunately, it's a little hard to find since it's not on DVD. I taped a copy from Showtime years ago and transferred it onto DVD-R last year. I should probably watch it again sometime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHJ6T9jA4UM

I've never seen this movie with John Wayne in 19th century Japan, but I suppose it counts:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051398/

As for movies with Japanese people trying to navigate American culture, one that came to mind is Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z9z1JtjWcI

I've never seen it, but there's a Canadian movie called Tokyo Cowboy that's about a Japanese man who goes to Canada to become a cowboy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLZDhy1D2-4

There are also a few westerns featuring samurai who come to America. One that comes to mind is Red Sun with Charles Bronson, Alain Delon, and Toshiro Mifune (I think this is the only movie where one of the Seven Samurai and one of the Magnificent Seven appear together):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_E9vFLw-R0