Big Man Japan

aka: Dai-Nipponjin
Japan 2007, 110 minutes
Dir. Hitoshi Matsumoto
In Japanese with English subtitles
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Cult / Monster Mash

Topics: Mock-umentary.

Feat. Hitoshi Matsumoto

Aroview: A genuine inductee to the 'Incredibly Strange' hall of fame, this gonzo monster mash bounds between deadpan mock-u-mentary following the routine of a down-at-heel mortal (played by writer/director Matsumoto) and an astounding series of stand-offs between his 30-metre alter-ego and a host of stupendously bizarre monsters against the Tokyo skyscape.

A modern and surely original riff on the Japanese urban monster tradition initiated by GODZILLA, its cosmic clashes of comicbook surrealism are elevated by a decent production budget and a dedication to detail and craft, and seem all the more dynamic when contrasted with the deliberately flat moments of the hero's banal 'reality'. After all the jaw-dropping, this saves if not the weirdest, then certainly the funniest for last, in what just may be a homage to 'home-made' film-maker, Michel Gondry.

Adopt-a-Movie Kindly Adopted by Cameron Fleming