Yasuzô Masumura’s rat-a-tat-tat satire of Japanese Capitalism & consumerism isn’t all that different from the exaggerated vibe of Hollywood iconoclasts on the subject like Frank Tashlin in THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT/’56 or Billy Wilder in ONE, TWO, THREE/’61. The details of Japanese corporate hierarchy and the insecurities of the company man familiar enough to land. Here, the rivalry driving the action is candy, or rather, the specifics of declining sales on one company’s signature product: Caramels. (And check out that labor force; a staff of hundreds still hand-wrapping the stuff.) What to do? Publicity stunts? A prize in every 90th wrapper? Contests? New celebrity endorsements? Better come up with something if you want to climb the corporate ladder. Our answer lies in a goofy looking regular girl; no beauty, but a Plain Jane with bad teeth and too much enthusiasm. (She’s a Jerry Lewis against relatively normal players . . . and just as annoying, though I hear the French adore her.) All coming at us a mile a minute. (Good luck keeping up with the subtitles.) And product quality? Unmentioned. For Stateside viewers, more interesting for East/West comparisons than for social commentary; right down to the cool lacquered look of '50s Japanese color film stock.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: As mentioned, THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT and ONE, TWO, THREE. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/girl-cant-help-it-1956.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2023/04/one-two-three-1961.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Check out home plate when we go to a baseball game to note that dangerous looking pole by the batter's box. Yikes! When did Japan get rid of this safety hazard?
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