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Clip description
Mr Tachibana (Gotaro Tsunashima) waits outside the Port Hedland airport. Sandy Edwards (Toni Collette) arrives late, and with no idea of the proper way to greet a visitor from Japan. Mr Tachibana also has no idea of Australian manners – including never sitting in the back seat. At the large iron ore mine that he has come to inspect, part-owned by his father, the mining company’s Mr Richards (John Howard) shows much greater formal knowledge. Sandy is surprised to hear him speak Japanese. She’s even more surprised when the visitor shows he can speak English.
Curator’s notes
Much of the film is preoccupied with language, and the potential for misunderstanding between cultures, but this scene illustrates a wilful understanding. Mr Hiromitsu is withholding his language skills from Ms Edwards because she offends his sensibilities, and possibly because she is ‘only a woman’. He opens up immediately to John Howard, playing Richards. We suspect this is not simply because Richard addresses him in Japanese, and with due deference. He has ‘standing’ because he’s a man, something she is always denied in the film.
