When is a ¡°multitalented¡± person too ¡°multi¡°? Where is the line between extending your creative energies in new directions and spreading yourself thin?
That question occurred to me after seeing the quirky comedy ¡°Jinu yo Saraba: Kamuroba Mura E¡± (¡°A Farewell to Jinu¡°), Suzuki Matsuo¡¯s first feature film as a director since ¡°Quiet Room ni Yokoso¡± (¡°Welcome to the Quiet Room¡°), his 2007 comedy set in a mental hospital. During this eight-year gap, Matsuo was busy working as a scriptwriter, actor, novelist and manager of a theater troupe.
The new film, in which burnt-out bank employee Takeharu Takami (Ryuhei Matsuda) moves to the countryside intent on living a zero-yen life, has some of the same promise and problems of Matsuo¡¯s earlier work, beginning with his 2004 directorial debut ¡°Koi no Mon¡± (¡°Otakus in Love¡°). All his films have a clever offbeat premise, funny-if-borderline-annoying characters and laugh-out-loud gags. The comedy, however, begins at full volume and stays there, while the story feels like a series of sketches rather than a narrative with an arc.
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