3.5, Japan

Giants and Toys

1958 > Yasuzo Masumura > Several times during Giants and Toys, I checked when the film was made. Kept on thinking late 70s, maybe mid-60s. But no, this was the prescient work of Masumura back in 1958, before the world of AMC’s Mad Men and a far cry from the salarymen lifestyle we see now in Japanese cinema. This is as biting a morality tale as Sweet Smell of Success but with a lot more color, a girl with terrible teeth and pop culture satire undermining the apparent comedy. No wonder Park Chan-wook considers this man one of his great influences.

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