Wow- well, as promised, I saw an amazing film tonight at The Nuart Theater in Los Angeles. BIG MAN JAPAN. Easily said folks, "If you're not drunk walking into this movie, you'll feel like you've been drinkin' by the time you walk out!"
Here's the original listing in from the Nuart schedule:
A middle-aged slacker living in a rundown, graffiti-ridden slum, Daisato's job involves being shocked by bolts of electricity that transform him into a stocky, stick-wielding giant several stories high who is entrusted with defending Japan from a host of bizarre monsters. But while his predecessors were national heroes, he is a pariah among the citizens he protects, who bitterly complain about the noise and destruction of property he causes. And Daisato (director/co-writer Hitoshi Matsumoto, a popular Japanese stand-up comic) has his own problems—an agent insistent on branding him with sponsor advertisements, an Alzheimer-afflicted grandfather who transforms into a giant in dirty underwear, and a family who is embarrassed by his often cowardly exploits. A wickedly deadpan spin on the giant Japanese superhero, Big Man Japan is an outrageous portrait of a pathetic but truly unique hero. (Fully subtitled)
This offering comes from one man Japanese extraordinaire Hitoshi Matsumoto. Billed as a comedy it truly is a great WTF film to start off this blog with. Released in 2007 BIG MAN JAPAN finally makes it to the states. It's Japanese Title, Dai-Nipponjin, follows the story of the last in a long line of "Big Men."
At the beginning, although a little slow, Matsumoto builds the anticipation by teasing the audience with traces of hints of what he does. Being followed around by TV cameras on his own reality show. After finally getting a call - He springs into action, heads to the local power plant and gets shocked with enough electricity to expand him into a huge not-respected-by-the-townsfolk MONSTER FIGHTER! From there it gets crazier and crazier, battling one-eyed gargantuan beings and over-sized smelly old-women-monsters. All n all, trying to gain respect that his predecessors (Including his grandfather "#4") once had as well as ratings.
Check the trailer out - the ending, well hell, I can't even begin to explain. Although my gut instincts tell me there's an underlying political message in it all. BIG MAN hints at a not so favorable impression of AMERICA while growing up, but in the end it's an AMERICAN freedom fighter team that saves the day.
Just in case you want to read more on this film at IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0997147/maindetails
No comments:
Post a Comment