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Big Man Japan


BIG MAN JAPAN (2007)

Japanese comic Hitoshi Matsumoto has created one of the strangest films I've ever seen.  His quasi-mockumentary Big Man Japan seems very simple.  In Japan, that land of exotic giant monsters, the government employs one man to fend off supernatural intruders.  This man has the ability to grow several stories tall.  He goes by the name of "Big Man Japan."  However, unlike his ancestors before him, he seems to have no real use for the job, nor is he particularly good at it.  Forced into the position by an obsessed father, he tries his best, but the stress of the job has taken its toll.  Big Man has turned into a misanthropic loser whose loneliness is obvious to everybody around him.  In the midst of this sad story, we get plenty of opportunities to see Big Man fight a weird assortment of monsters, many of whom have decidedly human traits.  By the end, after a bizarre third act, the film turns itself into an allegory of the relationship between Japan, China, and the United States.  This tonal shift could be off-putting if it weren't so funny.  Seldom have I seen a director more confident in his instincts and choices.  Big Man Japan requires more of its audience than the usual comedy.  Or any film, really.  I highly recommend that you seek it out, if only for its audacity.

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