International Film Critique

Use the following format for your international film critique; answers must be typed below the questions and
all questions must appear in full on your final copy. You can use this document as your template. Pay careful
attention to the required number of words for those questions that have them. Failure to follow the
instructions here and on your syllabus will result in a substantially low grade. Minimal answers poorly written
are a D grade or less. Elaboration of points, excellent arguments, and good writing garner higher grades.

Name ___Adam Manwill

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Class period/section __Mondays & Wednesdays 1PM

Title of Film: Big Man Japan

Year of release: 2007 Japan 2009 USA
Language of original film: Japanese
Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto
Actors: Hitoshi Matsumoto, Mitsuyoshi Takasu

6) Give a brief plot summary {150-250 words. DO NOT plagiarize from the web!]:
Dai Sato, also known as Big Man Japan (or Big), is descendant of superheroes who use electricity to be made
big so they can fight off skyscraper sized monsters that threaten Japan. The movie is in the form of a documentary
of sorts. There is a camera guy/interviewer who asks Big Man a bunch of questions about his job and his life.
Although Big Man does a lot of good, and protects the people of Japan, he is still a very unpopular guy and
almost at the point of being hated by the people of Japan. People vandalize his house, and treat him poorly.
All the fights that he does are televised, and broadcasted as a TV show. He has a very pushy agent, who is just
trying to use him to make a profit. And his dad has a sick grandfather who stays a care facility. He also has a little
daughter and a wife who is trying/already considers herself to be separated from him.

7) Analyze the social and philosophical issues the film addresses. Make sure you include the point
of view of the movie, the context of the movie, what audience the movie is targeting, and why.
(i.e. you should address and reflect upon the argument or meaning of the work. This should
be analysis, not just summary of issues in the movie). {at least 500 words}
One of the social issues I noticed that the film seemed to hit on was the fact that its not good for parents to force things
upon their children. Theres a scene in the movie where Bigs dad connects him up to electricity at a very young age, to try and
pass on his ideals of being a very powerful monster fighter. This connection to the high amount of electricity almost killed Big,
if it wasnt for his granddad coming into the room, he wouldve been killed by the electricity.
This couldve been a political message to Japan, in Japanese culture there seems to be a huge push on family pride.
They always want a son, to carry the family name on; but then on top of it they cant just carry on the family name, they have to
do it with honor. And sometimes you see parents pushing their kids to do things they dont necessarily want to do. I have a high
school friend who comes from a Japanese family, and he has kind of disappointed his parents because he hasnt gone to college
or done anything particularly noteworthy (according to his parents point of view anyways).
Bigs dad and granddad also had a huge drive for power and to be the very best monster fighter; because back in their
time of doing it, there was a lot more monster fighters and it was a lot more popular among the pop-culture at that time than in
Bigs time.
This drive for power ended up messing up Bigs granddad and caused Bigs dad to get into the scene a little earlier than
normal, again kind of a carrying on the family name, pride, and honor. This lead him to again having a drive for power,
ultimately this drive for power ended up being the cause of Bigs dads death. I saw this as a message that the drive for power
can be your downfall if you are not careful.
Another issue the film addresses is the dying Japanese culture. You can kind of see it in the people of Japan themselves,
back in the glory days the TV show of fighting monsters got way higher ratings and everyone was more involved with it and

treated the monster fighters like kings, if you will. In Bigs time, everyone was tired and bored of it. The highest ratings it got
was when Big got his butt kicked by the red monster.
At the very end, Big is pretty much forced into a fight with the red monster because of the TV station and his agent having
people break into his house in the middle of the night, and hook him up to an electricity machine to force him to grow big. They
did this undoubtedly to make a profit, since the last fight with the red monster got them way higher ratings and money.
In the fight with the red monster, he gets his butt kicked again, but then super heroes dressed in red, white and blue show
up, and kick the red monsters butt. When watching it, I could tell it was supposed to represent the USA, and I was pretty sure
the red monster represented like North Korea or Red China. In reading some reviews to kind of get an idea of what the ending
was supposed to mean (because the ending is SUPER weird, you should watch it and youll see what I mean). It did seem that
this was the case, also that those USA themed super heroes represented the relationship Japan has with the U.S. And that the
U.S. was kind of a part of the reason Japans culture died.
And I could see that, especially with how Bigs agent was using him for money and gain. Forcing him to fight the red
monster for her own gain, regardless if he lived or not in the fight against the red monster. Kind of how in the U.S. people use
others all the time to get ahead and to gain personal gain.
I think that possibly the underlying message of this movie is that you sometimes you need to rely on others for help, even if
you dont like them. The movie hints at unfavorable impression of the U.S. but in the end, its America that comes and saves
the day. Also, the citizens of Japan dislike Big, but he ends up saving them from monsters. I think that is a pretty genius
underlying message, if that indeed is the underlying message Hitoshi is trying to make. (sorry this is so long, I just got a little
carried away when I started thinking about it)

8) What is your response to the message of the film? Why do you respond this way? Show that you
are thinking about your own thinking here and the biases/assumptions about the world you bring
to your viewing. Did the film change the way you view the subject? Why, or why not? {at least
250 words}
I think the message is pretty good, sometimes when others are trying to help, we should recognize it and acknowledge it.
Big was rejected by everyone, even though he was working his butt off to save and protect them. I have been on the side where I
have been trying to help others and they just reject my help, or take it for granted. I hate when that happens.
Also, I feel that we need to respect the traditions or culture of our ancestors, but I do feel there are certain aspects of
traditions that dont necessarily need to stay around. The parts where things are forced upon others, I do not think is okay, let
people do what they want. I do feel it is good to have honor and virtue though, which is a part of Japanese culture that you can
see die in the movie.
I also think we should try not to use others to our advantage for our own personal gain. In the movie it shows the agent use
Big. They make it pretty obvious that she gets A LOT more money than Big gets paid, and that she has no problem putting Big
in danger. I do not feel that this okay, people should not be used to the point of being discarded at someones leisure.
The film didnt really change the way I viewed these few topics, I feel lucky that I was blessed with a conscious that makes
me feel guilty for the smallest things. So I feel that I already had this view that the movie portrays. I already felt pretty strongly
about the topics addressed.

9) What cultural differences did you notice in the film (philosophical outlook, humor, architecture,
customs, clothes, cities, weather, food, music, dancing, lifestyles, etc.)? What did you learn
about history, economics or politics? (There are always differences; look for them). {at least 250
words}
Well the movie was filmed in Japan, so all the architecture, clothes, food, music and lifestyle was all very Eastern. Though
with hints of western culture, like the agent using Big as a means to and end and using his chest and back as advertising space,
essentially selling his body for sponsors (which I feel is very Americanized).

The references to having a boy to carry on the family name and honor was referenced a few times. That is a very Japanese
culture/tradition. It also seemed when the interviewer interviewed others that werent Big, they kind of shied away from the
camera and the questions. I feel like that is a difference, because in America we all love our moments of glory on TV.
The music was very eastern sounding, nothing like you would hear in Americas pop-culture. The food was also very
eastern too. The clothes were also very Eastern, kimono type attire. The cities were very big, with lots of tall buildings crammed
together, very Japanese like since the population is huge.
I guess something I did learn, is that Japanese culture is dying. I never really thought about it dying before; but with the
newer generations, its kind of starting to disappear. This movie made it a little more apparent to me, especially considering it
is made from a Japanese point of view. Never really thought of the dying culture to be Americas fault either. But the underlying
message, if based on history, does tend to say that.

10) What techniques did the filmmaker use that were different from what you see in the films you
normally watch? Think about lighting, dialogue, atmosphere, setting, music, and how the
filmmaker might play upon your own biases, etc.{150 words}
Some different techniques I saw that are different from movies/films I usually watch is that it seemed a little less polished
from movies you see that are produced/filmed in America. It seems that they didnt really care to get a professional lighting.
And some scenes seemed a little darker (in exposure) than ones youd see here, seemed they were going for a very
raw/authentic feel.
The camera didnt seem to be on a glider, as there were parts that had some camera shake, this could also be the fact that it
was more of a documentary. Also they seemed to not use a lot of camera angles/point of view. They stuck on one point of view a
lot longer than a movie/film here in America would. The settings for the parts where they interviewed people, seemed different
than what you would see in America. They interviewed Big in some random places, where you could hear background noise.

11) Discuss how what you saw in the film relates to one of the assigned readings or class
discussions we have had. Be specific! {150 words}
Gender roles was an issue/topic that came up in the movie. You didnt see any or even hear of any female monster
fighters over the course of the movie; which could leave one to assume that there wasnt any girl fighters. They also referenced
how Big preferred a son to a daughter when he first had his kid, again to have his name and legacy carried on. It also seemed
like Big didnt want anything to do with fighting monsters at first, but his dad kind of forced him at a young age to realize he
was going to do it, because he was a boy. And its a boy thing to do.
At the end of the movie, 2 of the fighters that beat up the red monster, were girls. This could be leading to the end of
Japanese culture where men do everything. This could even be acknowledged with the fact that Bigs agent was a woman, and
not a man.

12) Why do you think I assign an international film?

I think were assigned an international film because it helps us become more cultured, and see how things are
done in other parts of the world; because they definitely do things differently; including movies. And its actually
pretty cool to see how they do, do things. Also, we get to see movies that have political messages coming from
another countries point of view, and see where they are coming from.