The Raindance Film Festival in London is one of those film festivals
that I don't always get excited about, falling as it does behind the likes of
the London Film Festival, the Terracotta Film Festival, the Japan Foundation
annual film programme, the London Korean Film Festival and the all-night Steven
Segal Wank-a-thon in my thoughts. That's not to say it's bad or anything, I
just always forget about it.
This year was no exception, coming at a time when I was far too busy to
even think, let alone watch a film. But hang on, there's some good shit here. Decisions
to attend films were made slightly late in the day (i.e. the night before) and
I was watching the films in an uncomfortable state of tiredness.
Essentially, I couldn't make many of the films anyway; and those I did
see were squeezed in around important things in my life (wedding food tastings,
Villa playing Man City). There were, however, some good films on offer, notably
the Third Window Films line-up of four, count them, films...I made one of them
(I've pre-ordered the 'New Directors from Japan' DVD already).
So, that's three paragraphs gone and I haven't even mentioned a single
film yet. '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...
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