THE WOODSMAN AND THE RAIN
DVD. Third Window Films

Not quite in-depth enough to be a character study, The Woodsman and the Rain is more a gentle, lighthearted look at the improbable friendship between two very different people. With some genuinely funny moments to be had, albeit via predictably easy jokes, it's a pleasure to watch for the most part, with good performances from our two leads, Koji Yakusho as the titular lumberjack, and Shun Oguri as Koichi, a painfully timid young film director.

Katsuhiko is a widow, who lives with his insolent teenage son. One day he is working alone in the woods when a producer rushes to him from a nearby zombie film shoot, asking that he keep the noise down. Katsuhiko is entirely baffled by this, yet inadvertently finds himself becoming a location scout later on when he rescues the producer and the director, Koichi, from the roadside. Clueless about filmmaking, he assumes Koichi is lazy and doesn't do anything, in what is an affectionate nod to the process. Much of the film's humour, in fact, is derived from Katsuhiko's lack of knowledge, a scene in which he is drafted to play a zombie particularly amusing.

Thus, the story develops as Katsuhiko's experience of filmmaking does. As his friendship blossoms with Koichi, who commands no respect from his crew, even attempting to run away at one point, the production begins to grow more dependent on him, as he himself becomes more enthused. The impact trickles through to his home life with his son, as indeed to Koichi, who very gradually starts to come out of his shell and becomes confident enough to direct his film.

All very charming, yet also somewhat lacking; this briefest of nutshells sums up The Woodsman and the Rain entirely. This is not a criticism; as a buddy film it more than delivers, the developing friendship and lighthearted script rather heartwarming. A real criticism would be, however, that the film is far too long at 129 minutes, the final act dragging somewhat. The same story could easily have been told at under two hours.

NAILA SCARGILL

BUY IT NOW (UK)