The Outsider
Let’s talk movies! Let’s talk Netflix movies and about the ‘The Outsider’ starring Jared Leto which has reviews full of controversy! I mean the audience – like myself – loved it but the critics hated it.
Well, I must be honest. My partner recommended we watch this movie and he was so excited about it – needless to say he fell asleep halfway, story of my life – but since it was not a thriller I had no issue watching it by myself.
I loved the movie! I just loved the acting of Jared Leto and his co-stars of course. I loved the fact that I could walk along with them in the streets of Osaka and find out more about the Japanese culture. A culture that is strict in all aspects but has honour and dignity at the forefront.
I am a professional actress and I am more in love with the stage and the theatre and the meaningful looks, the silences that say it all, the slight movements that explain the dialogues and the symbols behind objects or gestures.
And I have seen all the above in the movie. Too bad the critics did not see these things as I found their writing kind of superficial and accusative of the acting of Jared Leto. Yes, he did not have long lines and full blasting emotions, but he was in character. He embraced the Japanese culture and it was indeed interesting that he did not have a past for us to know – such Hollywood cliché-as in many movies. The bond he creates with Kiyoshi and the members of the Shiromatsu gang is interesting to explore and I believe that was the reason the director did not give him a past, a present or a future similar to the Messenger in Ancient Greek Tragedies who joins the plot to deliver news that will forever change the route of events and bring the catharsis that is much needed in the end.
The leader of the Shiromatsu clan, Akishiro is the one who sees through the eyes and the soul of Nick Lowell (Jared Leto) and invites him to join the clan, as a new family member, thus Nick gaining a father, brothers and finding love in the eyes of Miyu who is Kiyoshi’s sister.
As I have been to Japan myself, it was very interesting watching the cultural aspects of the movie and the respect that the director gave to specific scenes such as the tea ceremony, the Sumo Fight rituals and the explanation of the two swords that Kiyoshi is delivering to Nick after the latter reveals his relationship to his sister.
“You know what these are? They were my father’s. He left our home when I was young. My sister was a baby. The day he left, he was drunk, and he came to me in the night with these. And he said, “this is daisho. One for war, one for honour. One to kill, one to decapitate. One for murder, one for suicide. Katana and Wakizashi. This never left a warrior’s side, even in his sleep. It was his honour. My father told me the daisho was mine now. Because I was the one with a family to look after. My sister. She’s yours to protect now. You understand? If you are my brother, take them.”
I enjoyed watching the movie and the acting was very good. I highly recommend it as I like movies that when they finish, they leave for you something behind. And ‘The Outsider’ did leave something behind to think and to discuss. This is what makes a movie worth watching. And here we had the story of a man who managed with his devotion and respect to earn the respect of a culture that considered him a ‘gaijin’ (outsider) and embraced him in the end as a brother.
I am looking forward for the sequel because revenge has not been paid back yet! Let’s see…
