Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Giants and Toys (1958)

Savage social satire from Japan hurls barbs at that country's workaholic salaryman culture as well as thumbing its nose at the cold heartlessness of post-war capitalism. It's pointed and astonishing and extremely funny, and it's aged quite well -- in fact, with some slight tweaks this could open nationwide tomorrow and be just as cutting. And the most impressive part is that this deeply ingrained cynicism comes wrapped within a brightly colored soda-pop-fizzy package -- imagine the Monkees singing Woody Guthrie and you're almost there. In case I ain't clear enough, I really liked this one.

Grade: A-