When indie directors take a more commercial turn, the usual explanation is the bigger paycheck, but it's not always so simple. Yuya Ishii's shift from the raucous films of his early career to the more genteel, mainstream 2013 film "Fune wo Amu (The Great Passage)" raised not only his standard of living but also his status with more traditionally minded domestic critics.
STatsushi Omori's progression from arthouse filmmaker to multiplex entertainer is somewhat different, but the destination is similar: a higher profile at home. Not that his more serious efforts are lacking critical recognition. Omori's "Sayonara Keikoku (The Ravine of Goodbye)," a 2013 drama about a woman who becomes the lover of her rapist, won a shelf of best-actress prizes for lead Yoko Maki, as well as a Special Jury Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival.
But to the movie-going public, Omori is probably best known for his "Mahoro Ekimae" (literally, "In Front of Mahoro Station") films about the misadventures of a pair of scruffy benriya (handymen) whose rundown office is near the fictional titular train station. (Hitoshi One also directed the 12-episode "Mahoro Ekimae" drama that TV Tokyo aired in 2013.)