The joint Japanese/Canadian production is an award-winning film that was shot on PEI and cast many of the local islanders as extras and in speaking roles.  The film is about a young Japanese girl who travels to PEI in search of a Canadian World War II veteran who she believes may have been her grandmother’s first love. 

The film’s director, Takako Miyahira, won best director at the 2009 Asian Festival of First Films for Looking for Anne, which Montreal Gazette film critic John Griffin described as a “sweet small movie about roses and boats, memories, miracles, and Anne of Green Gables.”

He also says the movie is all about love, but not in a sappy way.  “Looking for Anne resists every temptation to fall into gooey romance and maudlin regret. A taut, unpredictable script, restrained performances, and clean direction in both Japanese and English, enjoined with the natural beauty of a wonderful place, help the film find its modest way to a neat and satisfying conclusion. And that is the viewer’s own reward.”

While the film is set in Anne Shirley’s homeland, the film isn’t so much about the heroine as it is about the land that helped inspire her. The film really shows off the beauty of the island and, according to the film’s producer, Claude Gagnon, it illustrates contemporary PEI. 

Gagnon’s wife, Yuri Yoshimura, actually co-wrote the film with the director and is responsible for bringing the Charlottetown Festival’s staging of Anne of Green Gables to Japan 11 years ago.  While the film opened in Asia in 2009, it had its Canadian premiere in the fall of last year.

To read more about Looking for Anne, click here.

Source: The Guardian

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