An old favorite of mine, finally available in high definition via Third Window Films. Has it aged well? Um... kinda. On rewatching, its flaws become quite obvious and are pretty much the same ones that also plagued most other japanese mainstream comedies of the aughts. There's too much wooden, expository dialogue. It doesn't steer clear of some pretty tired cliches and stock characters. In terms of acting performances, it's really all over the map and also has some serious pacing issues that wouldn't have been hard to resolve - the film could easily have 20 minutes shaved off in editing without omitting anything important.
All these things aside, i'm also reminded what made this film so memorable to me back then: A well constructed narrative spanning several generations, each one a rewarding story of its own. Think what Cloud Atlas might have looked like if it was actually a really fun and absorbing film... yeah, this is such a fun, inventive ride you can easily forgive its shortcomings. Director Yoshihiro Nakamura made quite a few similar quirky comedies around the late aughts/early 2010's and while i wouldn't necessarily call this one the very best of these, it's certainly the most entertaining, ambitious and memorable one.
Review by GroschiBlockedParent2021-01-05T21:00:30Z
An old favorite of mine, finally available in high definition via Third Window Films. Has it aged well? Um... kinda. On rewatching, its flaws become quite obvious and are pretty much the same ones that also plagued most other japanese mainstream comedies of the aughts. There's too much wooden, expository dialogue. It doesn't steer clear of some pretty tired cliches and stock characters. In terms of acting performances, it's really all over the map and also has some serious pacing issues that wouldn't have been hard to resolve - the film could easily have 20 minutes shaved off in editing without omitting anything important.
All these things aside, i'm also reminded what made this film so memorable to me back then: A well constructed narrative spanning several generations, each one a rewarding story of its own. Think what Cloud Atlas might have looked like if it was actually a really fun and absorbing film... yeah, this is such a fun, inventive ride you can easily forgive its shortcomings. Director Yoshihiro Nakamura made quite a few similar quirky comedies around the late aughts/early 2010's and while i wouldn't necessarily call this one the very best of these, it's certainly the most entertaining, ambitious and memorable one.