Big Man Japan
| Big Man Japan | |
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Japanese poster art
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| Directed by | Hitoshi Matsumoto |
| Produced by | Akihiro Okamoto |
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| Music by | Tōwa Tei |
| Cinematography | Hideo Yamamoto |
| Edited by | Soichi Ueno |
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Release date
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Running time
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113 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Big Man Japan (大日本人 Dai Nipponjin?) is a 2007 Japanese film written and directed by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto. It was well received by critics in the U.S., after many months of showings at various festivals and film events.
The film takes the form of a mockumentary that follows Masaru Daisato. Daisato is an otherwise normal Japanese citizen except for an inherited ability to grow to a height of approximately 30 meters in response to the application of high voltage electricity. As both his father and grandfather before him, Daisato has accepted the duty to protect Japan against various giant monsters while working for a sub-division of the defence ministry called the Ministry of Monster Prevention. Despite his great powers, he increasingly finds himself mocked by his fellow citizens while struggling under the burden of living up to a heroic lineage that increasingly overshadows his own mediocre accomplishments as a monster fighter. To further complicate matters, he is deeply estranged from his own wife and child. By the film’s end, his failures and doubts reach a hallucinogenic apotheosis.
Magnolia Pictures gave the film a limited release in April 2008. It was released on DVD July 28, 2009.
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 78% of 32 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.4/10. The site's consensus is: "Hitoshi Matsumoto's indescribably odd mockumentary is undeniably inspired."Metacritic rated it 62/100 based on 13 reviews.Roger Ebert said the film was "very funny in an insidious way" and gave it three and a half stars out of four.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that there was a remake in the works. Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi were reported to be writing the script and Neal H. Moritz the producer.
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