Wood Job! Kamusari nânâ nichijô

The Japanese do some great romantic comedies, and this is definitely one of the better ones. It's the only I have watched a number of times.

The theme of the city folk visiting a small town and coming to grips with the quirky locals is common in Japanese film, but this is one that does it particuarly well. A city guy, goes to the country to meet a girl he saw in a brochure. Along the way, he begins to get respect for the quirky locals, and their odd habits, who he begins to realise while working with the forest, are also one with it.

There is lots of quirkiness, cultural conflict, funny moments and romance. A really great film, and of my favorite Japanese Rom coms. I watch a lot of Japanese cinema, and I would probably put this on my top 20.

This is simply a great film! Fine acting, especially the children. It is educational and funny with drama, danger, romance, mysticism, and Shintoism. The film seems to capture what life in a remote mountain community might be like (and why you might want to try to live there for awhile - sign me up!). Fine photography. Score and titles are OK. Viewed at JICC J-Film event. WILLIAM FLANIGAN

Okay, so I was ready to watch a comedy by master Shinobu Yaguchi, famous for his amazing Swing Girls movie but instead I got a sort of coming-of-age feel-good movie about finding one's own roots.

Don't get me wrong, there are fun and silly moments throughout the movie with fun characters- as is usual in a Shinobu Yaguchi movie but this time the tone is a bit more realistic that gives way for emotional and affecting moments to take the center stage in this movie.

The plot is quite simple, a scoundrel city boy decides to work and train in forestry on a whim (decided by his attraction to a girl on a poster, very silly!) and the movie is set around this whole training year where he learns a lot of life lessons including Japanese folklore and the beauty of working for nature.

The movie is shot beautifully, the nature shots stand out the most obviously- I wish this movie would've been made around the beginning of the 00s for that gorgeous scrappy feeling that his older movies have but otherwise it's great!

The actors are fun and play both seriously and comedically with the standout being ruggedly handsome Hideaki Ito as Yoki- however the characters aren't very well-developed that's one of the negatives, a few sub-plots involving the villagers don't get resolved and the movie has a bit of a fakeout during the beginning where we get introduced to Yukis (the main character) classmates only for them to appear at the tail-end of the movie.

A bit of a negative is that it's perhaps a bit too long? It could've used for more efficient storytelling as in his past movies but otherwise it's good- the 1hr 56 mins of runtime still passed by without a hitch!

More than the surrounding plot I find the depictions of Japanese myth and traditions to be really emotional in this movie- it definitely ties it together in a wonderful kind of way.

I'd say this is not his best movie but it's definitely worth a watch- even if the elements of his older movies aren't quite present you can still find something great about his newer films! Check it out!

My godd i dont know where to start Let me just tell you one thing its the best you will ever see It bring you close to nature and the people of the village the liveliness and happiness you get from just watching them live their life so wonderfully Theres a bit of romance but tbh u wont be needing all that its just already sooo perfect on how our main characters pov changes as he lives and sees the way all the village people live trust me its worth it by big shot u should definitely watch it although i normally dont cry much but thus made me sooo hapy it alredy brought me down to tears of happiness for our mc and the villagers i would love to see a continuation of this but i know we wont get its just that too good to be true huge love to this movieeeee.

It was bright, upbeat and I think the director Shinobu Yaguchi has mastered his style with this film. His films take closer look at certain jobs we take for granted and succeeds in creating a joyful comedy drama out of its everyday life. Wood Job! is about a high-school graduate giving forestry work a go to pass his time and finding joy in hard work and country life. Basically a fish out of water story with all the lessons and moral ticks. However, don't let the rather predictable plot put you off.

This film is fast paced, lots of things happen quickly, and hilarious from the beginning to end. Much of the work is done by Shôta Sometani whose comedic timing is impeccable and has the right face for the character. Even when he's smug, you just gotta love the guy. One moment he seemingly pulls his weight in his work but the next he's shrieking at something unexpected. The rest of the cast are excellent as well. Most memorable is Ito Hideaki who's manliest man (and very handsome) of them all and initially give our protagonist a hard time but eventually... you know it already.

It is a pleasant ride throughout. Comedy is not relied on dirty jokes but clear visual gags and quirky characters. This is one of the funniest films I've seen this year.