Dainipponjin

Matsumoto Hitoshi has for years been one of the greatest comedians and innovators on Japanese TV. And to judge by his film début, he is also a wayward and original talent as a film director. Dainipponjin has been a long time coming. Matsumoto took five years to write the screenplay and the film was in production for a year – in great secrecy. Of course he also plays the lead. To call the result unique is no exaggeration, certainly for those who are used to Japanese excesses. That is partly a result of the everyday portrayal of existential despondency, which forms the heart of the film, and because of the delightful computer animation and the bizarre transcendental ending.
Dainipponjin means something like ‘the great Japanese’. For a while, nothing points to the fact that the title refers to the man being interviewed, Daisato, an ordinary man in his 40s who has fairly major problems with relationships and motivation. But he is most certainly the ‘great Japanese’ whose inevitable fate it is to battle the overgrown ‘baddies’ who beset Japan every now and then. For that, Daisato is energized at special points, as a result of which he grows to a giant size. But the responsibility weighs heavy on him. In these mediatised times, everything is live on TV and the ratings drop. In addition, the people complain about the mess he makes in his fight. (GT)

• 

•