Kamata kôshinkyoku

"Fall Guy" is an odd film. Through much of the film, it's an obvious (and very broad) comedy. However, later in the film, it's much more of a romantic drama--making it very hard to categorize and a bit strange.

The film begins on a movie set. One of the stars of the film begins behaving like a jerk, as it's obvious he's very insecure and has an ego the size of Texas. And, during all of Gin-Chan's histrionics and boorish behavior, he has an entourage that constantly tells him that he's wonderful and seem willing to do ANYTHING for him. It's all quite funny and a nice commentary about some movie stars.

A bit later, Gin-Chan's old girlfriend, Konatsu, informs him she's pregnant. Not surprisingly, Gin-Chan isn't willing to marry her and orders one of his underlings, Yasu, to marry her. This scene I think was overdone--and telling Yasu to do this while Konatsu is having sex with her seemed much more awkward than funny--though it does establish, once again, that Gin-Chan's friends will do ANYTHING for him. Yasu is still quite willing to marry the lady--partly because he's always been infatuated with her and partly because he thinks so little of himself.

To prove his devotion to Konatsu, Yasu takes on all the worst and most dangerous jobs in films--and gets the crap knocked out of him daily. However, one stunt NO ONE will do--even Yasu. But, he has a change of heart and agrees to--figuring that if this stunt kills him, he can leave Konatsu a nice insurance settlement. What's next? See the film.

I liked this film but really, really wish they'd either decided to make it a kooky comedy OR a romantic film. But, the characters are so likable that I was willing to overlook this and recommend you try this quirky film. Considering my description above, you probably don't want to watch this with the kids--there are a couple rather explicit scenes and quite a bit of blood.

FALL GUY (KAMATA KOSHINKYOKU) Directed by Kinji Fukasaku, 1982, 109 min

Fall Guy depicts the inside story of a film studio in a comical touch, where a nearly has-been movie star takes full advantage of an adoring member of his entourage & hanger on's blind devotion.

The former has the hanger on, who works as a bit player, marry the lovely actress he accidentally impregnated, in a bid to preserve his image, and then asks the fan to perform a show-stopping, life-threatening stunt in the hopes of making a big comeback.

At times moving, funny, and even romantic, Fall Guy, was well received and has won the first place in the "Ten Best Films" poll by Kinema Jumpo, as well as many other awards.

PS The honeymoon trip to Kyushu is a sweet moment of the film and clearly an inside joke.

A bit player in samurai films does a favor for the hammy star actor by marrying the star's pregnant girlfriend. This movie includes a funny peek at samurai filmmaking. There's a memorable sequence of a filmed samurai battle scene on a staircase and the aftermath.

Re-watching this 10 years after seeing it the first time and 31 years after it was made, with more Japanese under my belt, I don't see a fundamental stylistic difference between the humor in this movie from that of "Battle Royale." There's just a shift in emphasis. Both movies are equally misanthropic and mordantly satirical. I get the feeling that the core of both is a disappointed wish to find something lovable about at least two people and a hope that they connect with each other without screwing things up too badly. There's a lot about the three principal characters-- Ginshirô, Yasu and Konatsu--that is cringe-worthy that, if you don't buy it as satire, will repulse you. I get the feeling that Fukasaku couldn't have cared less about audience discomfort. Of course, if you're a nihilist, it won't make you squirm, at all.

Kinji Fukasaku is much better known for his violent and daring films such as Battle Royale and the Yakuza Papers, which is possibly why the cover of this movie boasted "A comedy from the director of Battle Royale". it was a tough tag-line to resist when I saw it on the rack at the video store.

I think the cover should have said something along the lines of "a romantic comedy", or maybe just "romance", because it was much more a romance film than a comedy. Sadly, it's one of those movies that starts out pretty damn funny, but loses its edge. the first half is full of slapstick humor, but I guess they forgot to put it in there in the second half or something.

It began with a hilarious sequence of a samurai movie being filmed. From there, we follow one of its actors, seeing his pretentious and ignorant attitude. The next day he visits his friend Yasu, the movie's fall guy, and tells him that he got one of his on-and-off girlfriends pregnant. He begs Yasu to pretend it's his kid. Yasu and the girl get married and build a surprisingly stable relationship, and everything seems find, but another chance to be a "fall guy" comes up and Yasu is faced with a tough decision.

Some of the scenes between Yasu and Konatsu are kind of cheesy, but there's some good sad moments in there. This includes the best "tearing apart a room" scene I've seen. Yasu's behavior definitely goes a little overboard, but it's more funny than lame.

I'd recommend this to anyone who "gets" Japanese humor. if you can't stand it, this is the last movie you want to see. I found it a little tedious myself, but only because it was inconsistent.