Japan Talk listener needs your help
03/13/2007 @ 4:00 am
A U.S. listener of Japan Talk who teaches high school English and Drama teaches a film series twice a year. Currently he shows Kurosawa’s “Dreams” and the French film “Hiroshima, mon amour,” both of which are pretty serious films.
He asks if JAPUNDIT readers might be able to suggest some school-appropriate Japanese comedies to show for his film series.
Any suggestions, Japundits?
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that in ancient china if you were REALLY fat that meant you were...
omg i feel so bad for a that monkey help it some one plzzzz
Tampopo would be great if you skip over the sex scenes. Has a universal topic and broad comic appeal.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:12 amスーパーの女 (Supermarket Woman) is also a decent comedy and is connected to the movie mentioned in the above comment (same director and actress). As an added bonus, it presents a handy guide to the wonders of capitalism as seen at a microeconomic level.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:23 amThis are available via NetFlix to take a look at: ‘Shall We Dance’ (did well internationally when it came out and was remade into a terrible vehicle for Richard Gere – blech), ‘Train Men’, ‘Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald’, ‘Kamikaze Girls [Shimotsum Story]‘, ‘Adrenaline Drive’, ‘My Neighbours: The Yamadas’. Different kinds of comedies… .
Also (but not apparently available via NetFlix) ‘Otakus in Love’, ‘The Mamiya Brothers’, ‘Waterboys’ and ‘Linda, Linda, Linda’ (which I’m seeing on Wednesday night). ‘Hana’ isn’t a comedy, per se, but it’s got a lot of humourous elements (http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/007449.html).
March 13th, 2007 at 5:01 amLinda, Linda, Linda is by far my favorite of Japanese comedy films. It’s quiet, steers clear of the cliches that all Japanese and American films have when they’re about teenagers. The only problem is that it’s not available as a dvd in America. Though you should double check that to be sure. Otherwise, I would also reccommend Shall We Dance.
March 13th, 2007 at 6:23 amI never really understand why film companies release smaller films to outside film festivals, spend the cash to get them subtitled into English… and then drop the subtitles when they get the DVDs into the marketplace.
The no-zone DVD players are cheap and plentiful so that’s not such a drawback. But no English subtitles must kill that film dead to the vast majority of the outside world… .
March 13th, 2007 at 6:36 amHmmm, I would wager that the nudity in Tampopo is benign enough for high school students, unless this is a very conservative area. I once watched The Name of the Rose in high school and that had full-frontal!
Back on topic, I really enjoyed The Happiness of the Katakuris and it was quite tame.
March 13th, 2007 at 7:14 amSwing Girls is a must and that would very very well in the school environment. Its very well done and if its a comedy with a message your looking for, I think it fits the ticket.
March 13th, 2007 at 7:22 amAnd ‘Swing Girls’ is available in with English subbies if you’re up to paying before playing the film – (http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/swing_girls.htm).
Brought to you by the same folks who did ‘Shall We Dance’… .
March 13th, 2007 at 7:38 am“Swing Girls’ Brought to you by the same folks who did ‘Shall We Dance’… ” … and Waterboys too I believe, but could be mistaken.
here’s one that hasn’t been mentioned and is awesome. ‘Sumo Do Sumo Don’t’ – a classic. I believe its even been referenced in a Japundit article: http://japundit.com/archives/2006/05/16/2517/
great film, really funny in any language and is concerned with an indigenous Japanese cultural/sporting activity rather than an imported one as in Waterboys/Shall we Dance/Swing girls etc. But other than that it is similar to Waterboys and Swing girls in its plot construction.
March 13th, 2007 at 9:33 amberocca: Great recommendation with the sumo-themed movie. The lead actor in that film also starred in Fancy Dance, which was similarly funny.
March 13th, 2007 at 9:40 amBattle Royale, maybe?
Hey, it will achieve every goal of education.
It will introduce them to a culture unfamiliar to them in a familiar or at least understandable way.
They’ll learn many new words and interesting facts.
They’ll be entertained while they’re learning.
They’ll come away wiht a different view of the world.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:14 amSeriously though, how about the new movie based on Marakami’s shot story “Tony Takitani.”
March 13th, 2007 at 10:16 amI have a great story about Swing Girls. I first saw the poster n Shibuya and thought ‘Hm.. another porn flick’. I saw the soundtrack for sale and thought that it was strange a porn film had a soundtrck but it didn’t seem very porn-esk…
A week later I saw it for rent at Tsutaya and thought “ah hell.. Ok Im curious…” and yeah bought it soon after
March 13th, 2007 at 10:21 amtypo
March 13th, 2007 at 10:23 amMarakami=>Murakami
If you like “Swing Girls,” you might as well recommend “Water Boys,” since it’s the exact same movie only with boys swimming in a pool instead of girls playing instruments.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:03 amI’d second The Happiness of the Katakuris. Tampopo is a rather lovely film (and, a nice window on the eating habits of a different culture), suppose it depends on the age of the students.
Much as the idea of suggesting Battle Royale made me giggle, I suspect that any US teacher that showed that to a class would be run out of town.
I’m in the UK, and we tend only to get more ‘grown-up’ Japanese movies. I really enjoyed Takeshi Kitano’s Zatoichi film the other year. But, that’s probably too violent, too. So, I’ll suggest his Kikujiro. Brilliant film.
March 13th, 2007 at 9:55 pmJames, I love that movie too! Nice pick! hahaha…
March 13th, 2007 at 9:58 pmThanks much to everyone who took the time to post.
Myself? I like just about anything done by Masayuki Suo, and my favorites are “Shall we dance?” and the totally hilarious “Shiko Funjatta” (“Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t”).
Another comedy/drama that I have always liked is “Shiawase No Ki-iroi Hankachi,” and other films by Yoji Yamada.
Thanks again, everyone.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:53 pmWater Boys and Swing Girls are the ones that immediately came to mind too. I would also recommend Trick. I saw that movie on the plane and it got me hooked on the TV series. Not a comedy, but I highly recommend Taiyou no uta.
Have you checked out youtube? Class time isn’t long enough for movies, so short clips from youtube are good. I recommend 美女缶 bijyokan, the story is sweet and it’s quite easy to understand even if there’s no subtitles. Silent Library is a classic on youtube. Armchair Theory vol. 1 – Japanese Tradition Kosai / 机上の空論 is a parody made by the comedy group “The Rahmens”. There was one video that was extremely funny – BakuTen – take my picture… the guy went to an amusement park and asked one of those staff in an animal suit to take a picture for him. Unfortunately, it has been erased from youtube and I couldn’t find it anywhere else. If someone has it saved, please let me know!
March 13th, 2007 at 11:55 pm“Samurai Fiction” (great soundtrack by Tomoyasu Hotei), “GTO” (the movie version), “Family Game”; I’d also recommend the anime series “Kamichu!” for its postcard-perfect depiction of a small port town on the Inland Sea, and as a good primer on Shinto. As with “GTO” (which is set in Hokkaido), it’s a good reminder that modern Japan is more than pre-modern Edo and post-modern Tokyo.
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