Japanese directors have made films in many different settings, but it¡¯s safe to say Takeshi Fukunaga is the first of his countrymen to direct a narrative feature set partly in Liberia, a small African country not too long ago embroiled in a bloody civil war. In fact, ¡°Out of My Hand¡± is only the second such feature period to be shot by a foreign filmmaker in the country.
Premiered at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival, the movie is a rarity for not only its director and setting, but its informed, incisive examination of Liberian life and the immigrant experience in today¡¯s America.
In contrast to the many Japanese films set abroad that use the locals as exotic color for the dramas of their Japanese principals, ¡°Out of My Hand¡± is almost totally centered on its Liberian characters. Even more atypically, Fukunaga uses his outsider¡¯s perspective to closely observe his subjects and their milieu minus cultural filters or political blinders. He sympathizes but doesn¡¯t pity, comments but doesn¡¯t condescend. He has filmed humanly flawed individuals, not representative types, noble or otherwise.
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