Dai Nipponjin

This is a film that is impossible to describe but you will remember it for a long time. Just when you think you’ve seen all the strangest and weirdest Japan can offer, suddenly a brand-new movie comes along that turns every expectation upside down. A documentary film crew is following the indolent loser Dai Sato in his everyday life. The unkempt and not exactly well-dressed Sato takes the team around his house, whose exterior is scribbled full of obscene and insulting graffiti. Little happens, you start to get a little bored and wonder if this is a documentary or a mockumentary. But exactly when you begin twisting in your chair and your attention is drawn more to the popcorn than the screen, Sato suddenly gets a phone call from the Defence Department and the film totally takes off. The wildest things are happening but presented as an utmost matter of course and with the greatest poker face of all time. A few films will best be experienced if you know as little as possible about them. This is definitely one of those. Because of the big surprise we unfortunately cannot say more.

Daj-Nipponjin is director Matsumoto Hitoshi's first film and he also stars as the indolent Dai Sato. Matsumoto has previously appeared in a number of Japan’s most popular TV series. kk