Black comedies about dysfunctional families are common enough in Japan, from Sogo Ishii's anarchic "Gyakufunsha Kazoku (The Crazy Family)" (1984) to Takashi Miike's batty "Katakurike no Kofuku (The Happiness of the Katakuris)" (2001), which also has the distinction of the being the first Japanese zombie musical. "Funuke Domo, Kanashimi no Ai o Misero (Funuke, Show Some Love you Losers!)," which has one of the best English titles I've run across in a while, is the latest in this loopy line. Screened in the Critics' Week section at this year's Cannes Film Festival, this first feature by Daihachi Yoshida has a clever script, talented cast, vivid characters and, as might be expected from a veteran CM director, visual goodies, including an inspired sequence in which real life bounces into manga.
What it does not have is a consistent tone, as it veers from sitcom yoks to kitchen-sink-drama shocks. This is calculation, not incompetence — Yoshida wants to make, not just a laugh fest, but an unblinking examination of how families can become festering swamps of crushed hopes, suppressed rage and sexual deviance. Was he inspired by similar examinations by Todd Solondz ("Happiness"), Wes Anderson ("The Royal Tenenbaums") and Noah Baumbach ("The Squid and the Whale")? No telling, though Yoshida's script is based on a novel by Yukiko Motoya.
What is clear, though, is the scarcity of real laughs, with most coming from the brilliant Hiromi Nagasaku as a strenuously "normal" housewife. This may help "Funuke Domo" qualify as festival-worthy art, but it lessens its value as stress-relieving entertainment. Minus Nagasaku, it would be just mildly funny and vaguely creepy, like taking a bus trip with a gorgeous, ditzy neurotic and learning that she has not only a closer than close relationship with Dear Brother, but has carved his forehead into a checker board. You might feel like making an unscheduled stop, no?