Donate & keep LugaTv alive
As much a film of its moment as Sweet Smell of Success and just as lasting in its pertinence, this cruel satire is Masumuras masterpiece - although an excellent script (from a Ken Kaiko novel) and terrific cast deserve their share of the credit. Three confectionery companies are locked in cut-throat rivalry for a share of a market increasingly dominated by imported US candy. Goda (Takamatsu), a thrusting young exec with World Caramel, spots a young woman out shopping and decides to turn her into a celebrity who can star in his plan for a space age ad campaign. Kyoko Shima (Nozoe), averagely pretty and with exceptionally bad teeth, takes to the Pygmalion treatment like a duck to water and soon leaves behind her job with a failing taxi firm and her dysfunctional family. Godas assistant Nishi (Kawaguchi), who dates a woman exec from a rival firm and proves a useless industrial spy, watches as both the girl and his boss succumb to mega-greed; the films ending turns on whether or not Nishi will have the balls to go his own moral way or submit to the diktats of Japan Inc. nicely paced, wittily conceived and imaginatively designed, this is the best of all proto-new wave movies.Director Masumura here explores the non-ceasing battle between pursuit of profits and business ethics in Japans increasingly cut-throat corporate world.
As three rival Caramel companies prepare for their annual promotional campaigns, the corporate backstabbing begins. But when the PR director of World Caramel discovers Kyoko, an unpolished girl to star as the new face of the campaign, the competitive tide seems to turn in their favor. Until, that is, Kyoko becomes such a wild sensation that the entire campaign implodes.
Hiroshi Kawaguchi
Yôsuke Nishi
Hitomi Nozoe
Kyôko Shima
Osamu Abe
Wrestler
Kôichi Fujiyama
Tadao Yokoyama
Yoshihiro Hamaguchi
Driver C
Tatsuo Hanabu
Fuyuzaki
Fujio Harumoto
Shimomura
Hisako Horigome
Miyuki Fujimoto
Hikaru Hoshi
Kurosawa
Kôichi Itô
Haruoka
Naoyasu Itô
Nakazaki
Yûnosuke Itô
Junji Harukawa
Shôji Kawashima
Eigineer
Hiroko Machida
Suzue, Gôda's wife
Sachiko Meguro
Iwafuji
Fumiko Murata
Kiku, Kyôko's mother
Shô Natsuki
Minami
Michiko Ono
Masami Kurahashi
Related Movies
Donate & keep LugaTv alive