Dai Nipponjin

I might have liked this more at a different time of day. Dai Nipponjin is a Japanese mockumentary, shown midnight last night as a secret screening. Like all mockumentaries, it is rich with awkward pauses, incongruous events, and use of the camera to reveal more than the "subjects" are willing to say. We were warned that the film started slow, then would build up in hilarity. Sadly, it never really picked up to keep me into it at 1:00 AM. The brief bits of hilarity were too sparse between the slow and silent.

Japanese absurd can play well at night - Naisu no mori: The First Contact played beautifully after midnight. Dai Nipponjin just didn't rise the level of absurdity that I've come to expect from the Japanese comedy genre.

If you like mockumentaries, rent this one on a Sunday afternoon when you're folding laundry. Just don't expect it to keep you awake.

Dai Nipponjin
2007, 113 minutes, directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto