Sunday, 4 February 2018

Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2018 Part II: Room for Let

Comedy films are always a tricky thing to get right. Over an extended time period, a little more substance is required than a simple stream of jokes that gradually becomes tiresome. Indeed, it is often non-comedy films that end up funnier than most comedies, using more subtle jokes, with the comedy as a side, rather than the main draw.


"Room for Let" is a comedy that treads the balance between constant humour and enough of a story to keep the whole thing held together, immediately throwing us into a world of eccentric characters. Straightaway, we are introduced to the whole cast in somewhat compromising situations through the gaze of Yumiko, who has come to visit Goro, a known "fixer" and jack-of-all-trades whom she is seeking for help to promote her new pottery exhibition. There being a room to let at this quirky little enclave on the outskirts of Osaka, for some unknown reason Yumiko chooses to occupy the vacancy and place herself in this mad world.

The more time we spend in this world, the more we see that Goro is a man who simply can't say "no" to the endless list of requests thrown his way, helping others at the hindrance of his own life. Eto is a hapless student with a seemingly endless stream of cash constantly popping by to ask Goro to sit another exam for him due to the fact they are of the same height. While others come to him to help forge deals, take deliveries, collect rent and have sex with their vivacious wife.

Yumiko's reason for moving in gradually becomes clear: her feelings for the ever-diligent Goro. But with his constant helping of others, he seems afraid of acting on his own feelings, leaving the obviously willing Yumiko to lie alone. Tired of the endless examinations and lengths he has to go for to help Eto, he chooses to run away to Beppu and help at a friend's parents' onsen, leaving it up to Yumiko to bring him back, before a somewhat abrupt ending as the chase is on.


Made in 1959, after the "golden age" of Japanese cinema, but before the approaching new wave, "Room for Let" is somewhat risqué for its era, with a lot of jokes about undergarments, quick slapstick and the closing scene of a man urinating openly into the Osaka skyline. Indeed, many jokes, such as Goro's accidentally leaning on his organ creating a false dramatic effect and the bar scene in which the pair in conversation continually move around the set to avoid eavesdroppers, have been seen repeatedly since and are comedy classics.

However, with many comedies of the era, as well as others, it has tendencies to descend into farce, with over-acting that hinders scenes and the film as a whole. Luckily, this doesn't happen too often, with enough of a serious edge to keep it on track.


Now, I have to admit, I'm not a man who watches many old films, like "Back to the Future" or "The Goonies" (hilarious!), but Yuzo Kawashima's "Room for Let" is a film that - 1950s BOARD-y humour aside - has enough to entertain a modern audience...Mainly as we spend much of our time in the Twenty-First Century pissing into the wind.

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