Living in a small remote town, Akira takes one various job and roles within his community including postman and tattoo artist. One of his more eccentric clients is the poet Penguin, who receives adoring letters from fans every day. However, when one fan, Star, claims her love and intent to marry, the three of them enter an odd relationship that feeds from their eccentrics.
Fancy is screening at Camera Japan
Director Masaoki Hirota's debut film “Fancy” is a bumpy ride, one which leads on a strong note but begins to waiver in quality as the production progresses. Starting off on the most positive aspect, Hirota crafts some deeply engaging characters with personas that help drive both comedy and conflict without feeling overly forced. This is most notable in Akira, who navigates the absurdness of the town he lives in with a calm and collected manner that heightens the comedic tone in the film. Consequently, the majority of the production thrives just by spending time with its cast and allowing their day to day interactions to set the flow.
However, the later portion of the film greatly muddies the character' in a way that makes the overall experience a frustrating one. Largely, this is due to an attempt at creating drama and conflict with its subjects, but sadly losing what made them interesting in the first place. Akira's carefree attitude and strong morality gives way to insecurity and deplorable actions, Penguin's charming eccentricity delves into neurotic reflection, and Star's innocence is exploited in a pretty uncomfortable way. Ultimately, the production tosses away what made the bulk of the experience enjoyable, with the last quarter feeling out of place.
Even in poor character development, the performances across the production help carry the weight of the failing narrative. In particular, Masatoshi Nagase (“My Sons”, “Punk Samurai Slash Down“) brings Akira to life in a way that never ceases to be entertaining and insightful, and relative new comer Sakurako Konishi (“Love Exposure“) brings a loving and bouncy personality to the love stricken poetry fan ‘Star'.
The rest of the production remains serviceable to the narrative, with a decent score and sound design and a semi-engaging visual approach. Consequently, the production follows the quaint and carefree structure outlined through most of the script and it won't offend or do anything major to stand out.
“Fancy” is not without its charms, and the bulk of the production is a good exercise in subtle comedy and character development. Unfortunately, all that falls apart in the later half of the production, leaving the one beloved persona to whither into something uninspiring and borderline insulting. However, the film should still garner interest for the future work of Masoki Hirota, since at its best (and for the majority of the film) “Fancy” is a great quirky comedy with memorable and strongly defining personas.
