Understated and slyly unexpected in its approach, this offbeat story follows Yoko (J-pop star turned actor Atsuko Maeda), the presenter of a Japanese television travel show, as she documents the highlights of Uzbekistan. When the camera is on, she gamely feigns enthusiasm for suspect local specialities, wades through a manmade lake in search of an elusive fish and rides a rickety fairground attraction until she vomits. But wandering alone through the backstreets and bazaars of Tashkent and Samarkand, she clings nervily to her map and her few faltering words of English. Travel, for this innately cautious young woman, is less a pleasure, more an ordeal.
But, as this deceptively insightful drama progresses, Yoko grows in confidence – an arc illustrated through two delightfully unexpected musical numbers and a militant act of solidarity with an imprisoned goat.
