Nihon igai zenbu chinbotsu

This movie is based on a short novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui that parodied a much more authoritative novel done by Sakyo Komatsu which depicted the sinking of Japan into the mantle.

Yasutaka Tsutsui is famous for writing novels lampooning real life situations such as Nihon Apachi Zoku (Apaches in Japan). He's also capable of writing much more serious sci-fi such as the famous "Girl who leaped through time" (Toki o kakeru shojo). This movie is based on a short novel that was only about 10 pages long which was a parody of the more famous "Nihon Chinbotsu" (Japan Sinks) by Sakyo Komatsu. It was meant to be a tongue in cheek satire, and even in the original novel, the title "Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu" , words Nihon and Chinbotsu was printed in a large font and "Igai Zenbu" was printed in a tiny font making sure that people understood the authors intent. When this novel first came out, Frank Sinatra was still alive, and at the opening scene he's the one who's singing in a cabaret in Tokyo. The novel itself wasn't meant to be high quality, and it had no artistic value. They've expanded on the story and made it into a movie.

The original novel wasn't any masterpiece, and the movie couldn't save it from its trashy origin. I'm not sure how Tsutsui himself views this movie as I'm sure he wrote the thing in few hours or at most few days just to muse himself.

Best skip this one and not take it too seriously even if you have the opportunity to see it.

Sadly, it's too scattershot and jarringly episodic to keep its crazy premise going (and escalating) for the almost 100-minute-long runtime. There are at least some fun scenes here and there though (it peaks with the musical number about Japan about 2/3s through the movie, with that whole sequence feeling a bit like a Tim and Eric skit).

UPDATE: Upon reflection, I'm bumping this up half a star. I just remembered there were two instances of world leaders singing weird songs, not one. Also, the ending is kind of effective. Plus it features the same plot twist as Monster X Strikes Back, which I also watched tonight. Plus the end credits feature what sounds like Kenny G playing My Heart Will Go On from Titanic.

You absolute madman, Minoru Kawasaki. Never stop.

"The World Sinks Except Japan" is set in the near future. It begins with the United States being destroyed by Earthquakes and floods--and millions of refugees pour into Europe, Australia and Asia. Then, one-by-one, the rest of the nations of the world suffer the same fate...except for Japan. As a result, the country is inundated with immigrants--and the Japanese soon get sick of all these poor freeloaders.

After having seen "The World Sinks Except Japan", I think it was a comedy--a parody of sorts. However, I am not really sure. Does it make fun of the old xenophobic Japan of the WWII era or is it really just a nasty xenophobic flick? I am not sure...and that alone make this a movie that isn't super-satisfying. However, whether it's a joke or not, you really can't help but notice that it's incredibly poorly made. Now part of this could be part of some joke (that I didn't at all understand) but seeing incredibly broad overacting, 'American' actors who can barely speak English at all (you'd think they'd hire more real Americans or actors who could at least approximate the language) and some tacky references (such as making Chinese and Korean leaders lapdogs of the Japanese in the movie--pretty tacky when you think about history and the 1930s) all made me just think the film was bad...and a bit dull to boot.

Due to rather dubious plate tectonics, every country in the world starts to sink beneath the sea... except Japan. It all happens so quickly that few survive, but the richest and most powerful in each country manage to make it to Japan to escape the watery fate of most of humanity. Politicians and movie stars that were used to being the world's elite find themselves in an entirely different situation in their new homeland, at the mercy of the generosity of their hosts - or failing that, their ability to entertain them.

THE SINKING OF JAPAN was originally a novel, released in 1973, and it spawned a satirical response in the form of a short novel called THE WORLD SINKS EXCEPT JAPAN. When it was announced that the original novel was to be made into a big-budget movie (for the second time) in 2006, the only reasonable thing for Minoru Kawasaki to do was to announce that he would make its satirical brother into a movie too... but on what must doubtless have been a fraction of the budget that could comfortably be rounded down to zero.

Whilst the rest of the world was barely mentioned in passing when Japan sank, here they are foregrounded, and the reaction of the Japanese to having to share their country with an influx of foreigners whom they now have power over is the major focus of the film. Whilst JAPAN SINKS revels in notions of the Japanese spirit excelling and triumphing in the face of adversity, THE WORLD SINKS has a much more realistic view of humanity (not just in Japan) - selfish, vain, petulant, unreliable, untrustworthy and xenophobic.

Whilst WORLD certainly doesn't have the budget for special effects that JAPAN did, it makes up for it by having a smart script and a sense of humour. Characters are mostly ridiculous stereotypes, and the film is cheerfully ridiculous on many occasions. The acting is mostly terrible, but that's not such a bad thing when the film isn't asking us take it seriously and have an emotional response. There are many non-Japanese cast members, and their ability with the language ranges from fluency to barely able to string a sentence together - which fits the situation of their characters.

There are no heroics to be found here, and no heart-warming message about triumph in the face of adversity, which means it's much less nauseating than the film it satirises - and generally more satisfying. It can't be claimed to be a great film because the production values are so bargain basement, but I happily give it... 7.5/10

A hilarious film adaptation by Kawasaki Minoru of a parody of the famous 1970s novel Nihon Chinbotsu. Nihon Chinbotsu is the story of the Japanese people losing their homeland and being dispersed throughout the world. Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu is the opposite: the whole world sinks except Japan. The world's survivors all scramble on the small little archipelago occupied by the xenophobic Japanese. With Team America-like line of characters, all extreme stereotypes of their nation, you can't stop laughing. No one escapes the directors critique, from the traditional Japanese guy (who takes advantage of the situation and eats whale), to the Chinese/Korean leaders who suck up to Japan's Prime Minister, to the American Secretary of Defense who regrets not having started a coup d'etat in Japan, and etcetera.

Of course, the story is just incredible. Of course there are going to be those who are going to criticize this movie saying the science behind the disaster is unrealistic, the economic situation of the foreigners would not happen, and that's fine. People who are going to criticize this movie for reasons like that just don't get that they need to suspend their disbelief when watching comedies like this one who's primary focus is not to tell a believable story but a ridiculously funny one.

Then there may be those who claim this is a nationalistic film, but again, those people are the same people who thought Team America was a nationalistic film. They just didn't get the masochistic humor. This movie is critical of not just its own nationality but even the movie itself ("I don't like Japanese movies, they look so cheap").

Finally, this movie will shock you with a surprisingly funny, yet touching end (well, as touching as a comedy can get). I wouldn't say it's a must watch, but it's a good complement to Nihon Chinbotsu as well as being a good stand alone film as well.