Wood Job!

The Japanese do some great romantic comedies, and this is definitely one of the better ones. It's the only I have watched a number of times.

The theme of the city folk visiting a small town and coming to grips with the quirky locals is common in Japanese film, but this is one that does it particuarly well. A city guy, goes to the country to meet a girl he saw in a brochure. Along the way, he begins to get respect for the quirky locals, and their odd habits, who he begins to realise while working with the forest, are also one with it.

There is lots of quirkiness, cultural conflict, funny moments and romance. A really great film, and of my favorite Japanese Rom coms. I watch a lot of Japanese cinema, and I would probably put this on my top 20.

Okay, so I was ready to watch a comedy by master Shinobu Yaguchi, famous for his amazing Swing Girls movie but instead I got a sort of coming-of-age feel-good movie about finding one's own roots.

Don't get me wrong, there are fun and silly moments throughout the movie with fun characters- as is usual in a Shinobu Yaguchi movie but this time the tone is a bit more realistic that gives way for emotional and affecting moments to take the center stage in this movie.

The plot is quite simple, a scoundrel city boy decides to work and train in forestry on a whim (decided by his attraction to a girl on a poster, very silly!) and the movie is set around this whole training year where he learns a lot of life lessons including Japanese folklore and the beauty of working for nature.

The movie is shot beautifully, the nature shots stand out the most obviously- I wish this movie would've been made around the beginning of the 00s for that gorgeous scrappy feeling that his older movies have but otherwise it's great!

The actors are fun and play both seriously and comedically with the standout being ruggedly handsome Hideaki Ito as Yoki- however the characters aren't very well-developed that's one of the negatives, a few sub-plots involving the villagers don't get resolved and the movie has a bit of a fakeout during the beginning where we get introduced to Yukis (the main character) classmates only for them to appear at the tail-end of the movie.

A bit of a negative is that it's perhaps a bit too long? It could've used for more efficient storytelling as in his past movies but otherwise it's good- the 1hr 56 mins of runtime still passed by without a hitch!

More than the surrounding plot I find the depictions of Japanese myth and traditions to be really emotional in this movie- it definitely ties it together in a wonderful kind of way.

I'd say this is not his best movie but it's definitely worth a watch- even if the elements of his older movies aren't quite present you can still find something great about his newer films! Check it out!

This is simply a great film! Fine acting, especially the children. It is educational and funny with drama, danger, romance, mysticism, and Shintoism. The film seems to capture what life in a remote mountain community might be like (and why you might want to try to live there for awhile - sign me up!). Fine photography. Score and titles are OK. Viewed at JICC J-Film event. WILLIAM FLANIGAN

An education on Japanese rural culture with a touch of comedy. There are a few silly, dull moments, but overall the film is quite enjoyable.

Now, I'm not one to claim to be an expert on the forestry industry. But the depiction in this film almost made me want to get into it. Growing up out here in the rurals, this film feels oddly personal to me. Which might explain why I took a liking to it so much.

The characters feel human, with the way they all interact with each other. It gives off a very homely vibe. The kind that makes you want to go back to your hometown. Honestly, I think that's the part that got to me.

It's one of the nicest films I've seen and I think this might be one of my comfort movies now. Relatable, funny, and just enchanting in the natural beauty of the forest. If you're into that sort of thing. I recommend it.