It's time to pick up and finish my TIFF 2007 notes. I haven't reviewed yet some of the best movies from what I saw. But, first, about the last one - Dai Nipponjin. Hitoshi Matsumoto is the director. I exchanged my ticket to Kitano for that one (I've read that's what Cannes festival also did).

It's hard for me to rate this movie as a whole. Some parts of it I enjoyed and some just seemed ridiculous.

It's a mocumentary about an ordinary guy Daisato, who, despite working as a superhero named "The Big Japanese", lives quite a pitiful life. The character is played by Matsumoto himself.

The way Daisato presents himself in the documentary is funny and interesting. The camera follows him during his everyday routine, tracks his relationships with the relatives and society, tells about the history of the profession (I especially enjoyed B&W "newsreels" about Daisato's predecessor). His fights with monsters are shown eventually (his alter-ego also looking not very presentable and old-fashioned), and they also happen to be a subject of a late night TV-show. Daisato looks philosophically at his current situation, although we feel a big disappointment, unhappiness and depression inside.

Matsumoto is fun to watch. His his self-restrained poise, his way of speaking, his Kermit-the-frog mimics are very appealing.  The loneliness and vulnerability of the character is very well highlighted by a beautiful tune. Superhero fights are for the lovers of the low-budget, cartoonish/clay monsters. Although, it's still quite amusing.

What disappointed me greatly was the ending. It tries to make a point, but, IMHO, it just ruins the film altogether, and makes all the previous build-up pointless. The movie implodes at a pop.

But for the die-hard aficionados, as I read, it doesn't look that way. They enjoyed the ending - for them it bore a significance.

So, I admit, I'm not a pro in the genre, but at the beginning it looked like the film appealed to a wider audience, being not just a fan fair. I give it 2.5/4, for the sympathetic main character.