'Fine, Totally Fine': now that's a film. The debut feature by director Yosuke Fujita, it is a film that I very much liked. A nice, gently-paced comedy, it is full of 'Quirky Guys and Gals', much like the title of his next feature. I, therefore, had high hopes for his latest work: 'Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats'.
Reading the premise, you instantly knew this was going to be in much the same vein of 'Fine, Totally Fine'. About a man - played by a woman - Fukuda is a happy-go-lucky industrial painter whom is everybody's best friend and counsellor, helping introverted colleagues and let's say quirky neighbours alike. But there's something clearly missing from his life (not the obvious being that this is a female playing a male).
The side story of aspiring photographer Chiho soon merges with the life of the lead as she unannounced arrives at his door: his first love, but essentially a girl that tricked and embarrassed him when they were at school together. A fat man with an unusual face (you can see why they cast a female as the lead), Fukuda re-forms a friendship with Chiho largely based around her taking photos of him. Much like 'Fine, Totally Fine', sexual love might not make the ending happy, but a group of misfits find each other and so maybe feel less confused about their unique ways.
With my constant referencing to 'Fine, Totally Fine' it's clear that I probably prefer the earlier work to this new one. And I probably do, but the fact that I was anticipating this film for a while means that I'm not concerned by this.
The role of Fukuda, played by female comedian Miyuki Oshima, is good as the lead, necessary for a character comedy to work. My always favourite Yoshiyoshi Arakawa is not as involved as I would normally desire though provides some incredibly necessary facial expressions, while the supporting characters are weird and wonderful, particularly the typical-of-Japanese-comedy duo of Mabuchi (Tateto Serizawa) and Nonoshita (Asato Iida): two men that very much need to get laid.
A scene that surmises this film stylistically, and indeed Fujita's brand of direction, is the beautifully insane visit to a curry house. Odd human beings, a baffling situation, social awkwardness, all done with a sense of calm...until someone bursts into an ultimately futile fir of rage. Fujita's style is very much in-line with that of other Japanese directors when injecting some comedy into their films. A very subtle buffoonery is present throughout, sometimes reminiscent of an early Kitano Takeshi at his most silly.
Third Window Films have distributed many films along a similar line as this and continue to do so. A gentle brand of foolishness that is ultimately fun to be enjoyed, with the odd bit of Shinya Tsukamoto thrown in for balance. 'Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats' was a film I was anticipating, and I'm glad I did. Now let's all try and stab someone for no apparent reason...
Reading the premise, you instantly knew this was going to be in much the same vein of 'Fine, Totally Fine'. About a man - played by a woman - Fukuda is a happy-go-lucky industrial painter whom is everybody's best friend and counsellor, helping introverted colleagues and let's say quirky neighbours alike. But there's something clearly missing from his life (not the obvious being that this is a female playing a male).
The side story of aspiring photographer Chiho soon merges with the life of the lead as she unannounced arrives at his door: his first love, but essentially a girl that tricked and embarrassed him when they were at school together. A fat man with an unusual face (you can see why they cast a female as the lead), Fukuda re-forms a friendship with Chiho largely based around her taking photos of him. Much like 'Fine, Totally Fine', sexual love might not make the ending happy, but a group of misfits find each other and so maybe feel less confused about their unique ways.
With my constant referencing to 'Fine, Totally Fine' it's clear that I probably prefer the earlier work to this new one. And I probably do, but the fact that I was anticipating this film for a while means that I'm not concerned by this.
The role of Fukuda, played by female comedian Miyuki Oshima, is good as the lead, necessary for a character comedy to work. My always favourite Yoshiyoshi Arakawa is not as involved as I would normally desire though provides some incredibly necessary facial expressions, while the supporting characters are weird and wonderful, particularly the typical-of-Japanese-comedy duo of Mabuchi (Tateto Serizawa) and Nonoshita (Asato Iida): two men that very much need to get laid.
A scene that surmises this film stylistically, and indeed Fujita's brand of direction, is the beautifully insane visit to a curry house. Odd human beings, a baffling situation, social awkwardness, all done with a sense of calm...until someone bursts into an ultimately futile fir of rage. Fujita's style is very much in-line with that of other Japanese directors when injecting some comedy into their films. A very subtle buffoonery is present throughout, sometimes reminiscent of an early Kitano Takeshi at his most silly.
Third Window Films have distributed many films along a similar line as this and continue to do so. A gentle brand of foolishness that is ultimately fun to be enjoyed, with the odd bit of Shinya Tsukamoto thrown in for balance. 'Fuku-chan of Fukufuku Flats' was a film I was anticipating, and I'm glad I did. Now let's all try and stab someone for no apparent reason...
