A film with a comically sad and absurd character all of its own. Muno no hito is based on the cartoon strips of Yoshiharu Tsuge and would appear to be infected by the alienating and surrealist imagination of the protagonist Sukezo Sukegawa (played by Naoto Takenaka himself).Sukegawa was once a renowned cartoonist, but he was not able to adapt to the changing demands of time. His work was regarded as strange and old-fashioned and he couldn’t get it published any more. The story starts when Sukegawa’s fame has long faded. He tries to make a living selling stones he seeks on the banks of the Tama River. He has furnished a bizarre stone shop where he receives visits from strange people. Even the leading character from one of his own comic strips visits him there. IN a magazine for stone lovers, he reads about an auction in Tokyo. He decides to offer his collection for sale. His son then finds a strange and rare stone, which may be worth a fortune. The auction however is a disappointment; Sukegawa appears unable to cope with reality. The tragic hero again turns to making comic strips. He works fanatically on astrange, surrealist and melancholy story and in vain seeks a publisher for his sad imagination.Muno no hito does not distinguish between fantasy and reality. The film has been made with great visual feeling; Naoto Takenaka would appear to have been inspired for his images by the poetic absurdity of the comic-strip world of the protagonist. The director is an admirer of both Yasujiro Ozu and Jacques Tati and he seems to want to unite these different styles in his film.
