Big Man Japan

Big Man Japan (大日本人, Dai Nipponjin, lit. 'Great Japanese') is a 2007 Japanese kaiju film written, starring and directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto. It was well received by critics in the U.S., after many months of showings at various festivals and film events.

Big Man Japan
Japanese poster art
Directed byHitoshi Matsumoto
Written by
  • Hitoshi Matsumoto
  • Mitsuyoshi Takasu
Produced byAkihiro Okamoto
Starring
CinematographyHideo Yamamoto
Edited bySoichi Ueno
Music byTōwa Tei
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 19 May 2007 (2007-05-19) (Cannes)
  • 2 June 2007 (2007-06-02) (Japan)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office$9,763,244[1]

Plot

The film takes the form of a mockumentary that follows Masaru Daisatou. Daisatou 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, Daisatou 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. The Battles with the monster are televised, and the ratings appear to drop or pick up depending on the event, most of the monsters have obscure abilities, and he generally defeats them. 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, who aren't living with him. Eventually, he encounters a particularly formidable monster, said not to be from Japan but from Korea. He runs away from it, which just results in more ridicule. Eventually, he receives assistance from a family of Ultraman-styled monster fighters to challenge it.

Cast
Actor Role
Hitoshi MatsumotoMasaru Daisatō/Big Man Japan
Riki TakeuchiLeaping Monster
UaManager Kobori
Ryūnosuke KamikiChild Monster
Haruka UnabaraStrangling Monster
Tomoji HasegawaInterviewer
Itsuji ItaoFemale Stink Monster
Hiroyuki MiyasakoSuper Justice's Mother
Takayuki HaranishiMale Stink Monster
Daisuke MiyagawaSuper Justice
Takuya HashimotoMidon
Taichi YazakiMasaru's Grandfather/the Fourth
Shion MachidaMasaru's Ex-Wife
Atsuko NakamuraBar Proprietress Azusa
Daisuke NagakuraMasaru's Grandfather (young)
Motohiro TorikiMasaru's Father/the Fifth
Keidai YanoYoung Masaru
Junshirō HayamaShintō Priest

U.S. release

Magnolia Pictures gave the film a limited release in April 2008.[2] It was released on DVD July 28, 2009.[3]

Reception

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."[4] Metacritic rated it 62/100 based on 13 reviews.[5] Roger Ebert said the film was "very funny in an insidious way" and gave it three and a half stars out of four.[6]

American remake

In June 2011, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that there was a remake in the works. Phil Hay, Ugur Demir and Matt Manfredi were reported to be writing the script and Neal H. Moritz the producer.[7]

References
  1. "Big Man Japan 2008 Re-release". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  2. Savlov, Marc (April 25, 2008). "'Big' in Japan, but What About Austin?". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  3. Rich, Jamie S. (2009-08-09). "Big Man Japan". DVD Talk. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  4. "Dai-Nipponjin (Big Man Japan) (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  5. "Big Man Japan". Metacritic. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  6. Ebert, Roger (June 24, 2009). "Big Man Japan - Reviews". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  7. Blair, Gavin J. (June 6, 2011). "'Big Man Japan' to Get Hollywood Remake". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
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