How to describe Matsumoto's work in Dai-Nipponjin without seeming either like an ignorant Westerner or alternatively like an otaku-crazed Japan-o-phile? I went into seeing this film without any expectations (it was the last of the films I saw at the Helsinki International Film Festival 2007), but I came out feeling giddy and joyous, like a surprised and baffled child who just heard a really funny and raunchy joke for the very first time. There is considerable novelty in this film, ranging from its pseudo-documentary (I guess they call it mockumentary) style of narrative with its low-key humour to its over-the-top Godzilla-style action sequences with CGI-animated pseudo-superheros and monsters - all of which contributes to this film being beyond bizarre.
Without a semblance of character development or plot suspense, Dai Nipponjin (which translates "(The) Big Japanese") meanders from one event to another, tracing the goings-on of an unwitting superhero who has inherited from his parents and grandparents the unrewarding role as a saviour of Japan and Tokyo from various roaming "baddies" (rendered in blocky but pretty CGI). From fighting an elastic rubberman to interfering in the strange mating rituals of two massive weirdos, the life of Dai Nipponjin is portrayed ironically and post-modernly as that of a reality-TV star or a minor celebrity. This is to me the strength of the film: Although ostensible harmless monster entertainment, the film contains some amount of social criticism masquerading as dry humour. From Japanese self-identity to its precarious relationships with the U.S. and earlier Germany (one of the "baddies" looks unmistakably like Hitler), the film often derails into a strange commentary on modern Japan. Dai Nipponjin, as the "Big Japanese", stands for nationalism, TV-entertainment and commodity culture all rolled into one package.
From an entertainment stand-point, the film is a mixed bag. It seems likely that only the Japanese will be able to fully appreciate all the jokes and alluded contexts in the film. Most Westerns will be left baffled, gasping for air - I know this from first hand experience! It is also slow-paced at times, and needlessly lax in its transitions from scene to scene. But after a slow start, the movie gains momentum and the last 20 minutes or so of the movie are pure comedy gold - IF you can handle its offensive and very Japanese humour. Really, I have not laughed so hard in the cinema for at least a year! Silly, crazy and outrageous - I loved it! Now, if ALL of the film had been as tight as the last third or so, I would easily have given the film an 8, or even a 9, but there was some boring and unnecessary stuff in there to lower the overall score.
Funny, offensive, surprisingly witty and biting at parts, this film is not for everybody and certainly not a masterpiece. But what lifts it above such one-joke wonders as the over-rated Calamari Wrestler is its self-conscious irony and unique approach to its subject matter. If only it weren't so slow-paced and uneven. So: definitely worth seeing - although, if you are allergic to crazy Japanese culture, this film will make you foam from the mouth... Good fun for all the rest of us!
Without a semblance of character development or plot suspense, Dai Nipponjin (which translates "(The) Big Japanese") meanders from one event to another, tracing the goings-on of an unwitting superhero who has inherited from his parents and grandparents the unrewarding role as a saviour of Japan and Tokyo from various roaming "baddies" (rendered in blocky but pretty CGI). From fighting an elastic rubberman to interfering in the strange mating rituals of two massive weirdos, the life of Dai Nipponjin is portrayed ironically and post-modernly as that of a reality-TV star or a minor celebrity. This is to me the strength of the film: Although ostensible harmless monster entertainment, the film contains some amount of social criticism masquerading as dry humour. From Japanese self-identity to its precarious relationships with the U.S. and earlier Germany (one of the "baddies" looks unmistakably like Hitler), the film often derails into a strange commentary on modern Japan. Dai Nipponjin, as the "Big Japanese", stands for nationalism, TV-entertainment and commodity culture all rolled into one package.
From an entertainment stand-point, the film is a mixed bag. It seems likely that only the Japanese will be able to fully appreciate all the jokes and alluded contexts in the film. Most Westerns will be left baffled, gasping for air - I know this from first hand experience! It is also slow-paced at times, and needlessly lax in its transitions from scene to scene. But after a slow start, the movie gains momentum and the last 20 minutes or so of the movie are pure comedy gold - IF you can handle its offensive and very Japanese humour. Really, I have not laughed so hard in the cinema for at least a year! Silly, crazy and outrageous - I loved it! Now, if ALL of the film had been as tight as the last third or so, I would easily have given the film an 8, or even a 9, but there was some boring and unnecessary stuff in there to lower the overall score.
Funny, offensive, surprisingly witty and biting at parts, this film is not for everybody and certainly not a masterpiece. But what lifts it above such one-joke wonders as the over-rated Calamari Wrestler is its self-conscious irony and unique approach to its subject matter. If only it weren't so slow-paced and uneven. So: definitely worth seeing - although, if you are allergic to crazy Japanese culture, this film will make you foam from the mouth... Good fun for all the rest of us!