Gaijin is one of those meticulously detailed persevering-through-the-years tales so beloved of Japanese filmmakers. Kyoko Tsukamoto plays a young Japanese girl who, at the turn of the century, seeks out better life opportunities in the New World. She heads to Brazil, where she goes to work in a coffee plantation. Sadly, she finds that men are no less exploitative in South America than they'd been in Japan. This lengthy film details the woman's gradual sociopolitical awakening. Part of the fascination in Gaijin is seeing Brazilian culture from a non-western point of view. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi