“After the Sasaya family is forced to sell their luxury home, their daughter Akane invites her Twitter followers to a party. Soon the most eccentric characters storm their home for an unforgettable event. The most imaginative and quirky film of this year's festival has it all: monstrous coffee beans, living statues, weddings, funerals and, of course, cats.” (Nippon Connection)
“Wonderful Paradise” is screening at Nippon Connection
The latest comedy film from director Masashi Yamamoto, presents itself as an escalating absurdist comedy. A format that Japan seems to have a natural knack for: from Sogo Ishii's “Crazy Family” to Sion Sono's “Why Don't You Play In Hell?” being hallmarks in absurdist humor that uses escalation to great success. Unfortunately, “Wonderful Paradise” stumbles over itself and falls flat.
Starting on a strong note, the production begins to suffer from overindulgence and gags with no room to let the punch line sink in – good comedy requires a degree of grounded realism and the production loses that entirely in the second half. Tragically, the first portion of the film is a near perfect comedy with strong personas and great gags that are washed away in the later half by smothering each joke between several others. This makes otherwise notable sequences, such as a statue come to life versus a mutant coffee bean, mundane in execution. Ultimately, the production feels ripe for handpicking visuals for memes over establishing itself as a competent cinematic experience.
Given the amount of visual and audio ‘noise' due to large cast and many subplots, it is difficult to offer fair critique on many of the technical aspects of the production. Undeniably, cinematographer Shintaro Teramoto showcases a knack of best framing moments of humor for the greatest impact, but the overall visual style is too frenetic and busy to offer much praise. Furthermore, the actors are too numerous for any to make a lasting impact beyond playing into stereotypes to make certain jokes land. Ultimately, the execution of all elements is passable and nothing looks horrible – just too busy to establish a defining sense of identity.
The first half of “Wonderful Paradise” is an idyllic family comedy that uses light elements of surrealism to great effect. Sadly the second half is far too indulgent and random to take seriously. Certainly, there are still great moments throughout that are strong and memorable, but the overall project is drowned in its own excess. Personally, I found myself laughing out loud at a few well timed gags in the first half and completely straight faced as the chaos ramped up.
An overabundance of wasted potential, “Wonderful Paradise” falls tragically short of its namesake. There are great moments within and may be better served with audience participation, but otherwise the production comes across as forgettable fluff.
