Hikinige Family

Poor Motomura-san. Things are less than wonderful in his home life and, on the way home, a sudden rainstorm and a failed attempt to light a cigarette while driving lead him to run over a young cyclist. He wants to give himself up, but his wife convinces him that he'll lose everything if he does. So they bring the dented car into the loungeroom and get to work, systematically scrapping it. Once the viewer accepts the premise, which is skilfully sold by the sincerity of the actors, this dark farce is involving and compelling all the way. Of course, things have to go wrong and people need to pry. The nosy neighbour is strongly modelled on Gladys Kravitz from Bewitched, and her snooping ways keep the family on edge until they take even more drastic action. While the film is generally played for laughs, the plot skips along at a fine pace and is helped along by a series of well-placed shocks. Once again, it was a pleasure to see the Japan Foundation screen such a rare treat on film and, as this one does not appear to have been released on DVD, even in Japan, will probably be a true once-off. And a wicked delight it was too.