Release Date (UK DVD) – 3rd October 2011
Directors – Yosuke Fujita, Tomoko Matsunashi, Mipo O, Gen Sekiguchi
Country – Japan
Certificate- 12
Runtime – 91minutes
Starring – Sakuraba Nanami, Nakamura Aoi, Yoshiyuki Morishita, Koizumi Kyoko
Quirky Guys and Gals is an anthology of four individual short films, directed by four very different directors about four very different protagonists. The common thread however, is that they are all about exaggerated and ‘quirky’ characters, which as Yosuke Fujita explains in the interview extras, was a prerequisite of being a part of the collection.
CHEER GIRLS
The first story we come across is Cheer Girls, directed by Yousuke Fajita this explores the life of Chiharu (Nanami) who, with her two best friends, create cheers for everyday people. Rather than jumping around alongside a sports team, she prefers to cheer for those who seem to be having a hard time in life, from a boy who can’t tie his shoe-lace to a man who feels guilty that his employee committed suicide, bringing them hope and encouragement. However, she is put to the test when she herself becomes depressed after being accused of mocking people instead of spurring them on. Fajita has a strong cast here and the beautiful scenic shots of Tokyo really add to the film.
BOY? MEETS GIRL
Tomoko Matsunashi shows us how hard it is to be seen in high school. When shy boy, Konosuke, with a crush on his photographer classmate wants her to notice him, he fears that he will never be brave enough to speak to her. After deciding to commit suicide, his best friend comes up with one last idea and Muratsubaki Konosuke (Nakamura Aoi) discovers that he gets a lot more attention as a girl than as a guy. Matsunashi captures the teenage angst well and creates a light-hearted exploration of cross-dressing.
CLAIM NIGHT
After her electricity is cut off, Kushara Mayuko (Tomochika) calls customer service only to be hung up on. Later when the head of customer service visits her home to apologise she is pleasantly surprised to find herself face to face with an attractive and honest man. Director Mipo O cleverly creates romance and confusion between the couple and a very amusing fight scene.
THE HOUSE FULL OF “ABANDONED” BUSINESS MEN
Forced to move house because of her collection of stray cats, Mrs. Okada Mayumi (Kyoko) begins collecting something much more unusual in Gen Sekiguchi’s The House Full Of “Abandoned” Businessmen. While out shopping Mrs. Okada, a housewife, comes across her neighbour, a businessman, sitting out in the sun and discovers that he has lost his job and too afraid to tell his wife, is pretending that he is still going out to work each day. Mrs. Okada suggests that he come back to her house to avoid getting a tan (which would give him away to his wife). After a few days, she discovers another businessman in the same predicament and makes the same offer and, as time passes, fills her house with the unemployed until one day her husband comes home early from work… Funny, heart-warming and brilliantly different, Sekiguchi’s film is amusingly relevant to the times.
Do not expect this collection to be anything less than the ‘quirky’ conveyed in the title. These mini films are strange, surreal explorations of the mind and the characters go to extreme lengths within their plots. There are lots of interesting techniques used, including first person camerawork and the use of both narration and dialogue.
All of the directors and many of the cast members involved have experience working in feature films and that is immediately seen through the quality of each film. However, although each individual tale is concluded in itself, it perhaps would have made the DVD as a whole a bit more special if the stories somehow intertwined; not necessarily on a major level, but even to see the characters in the background of each film would have given the films more of an entity and a sense of realism within their very unique styles. The directors have done well to match their brief and the title is a very good indicator for the type of film you’ll find here. Its weirdly entertaining and best watched without too many preconceived notions of what to expect.
Extras include interviews with directors Yosuke Fujita, Tomoko Matsunashi, Mipo O and Gen Sekiguchi, as well as trailers for other Japanese releases from Third Window.
Quirky Guys and Gals is released on DVD on the 3rd October – order it here
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