Nihon igai zenbu chinbotsu

Sadly, it's too scattershot and jarringly episodic to keep its crazy premise going (and escalating) for the almost 100-minute-long runtime. There are at least some fun scenes here and there though (it peaks with the musical number about Japan about 2/3s through the movie, with that whole sequence feeling a bit like a Tim and Eric skit).

UPDATE: Upon reflection, I'm bumping this up half a star. I just remembered there were two instances of world leaders singing weird songs, not one. Also, the ending is kind of effective. Plus it features the same plot twist as Monster X Strikes Back, which I also watched tonight. Plus the end credits feature what sounds like Kenny G playing My Heart Will Go On from Titanic.

You absolute madman, Minoru Kawasaki. Never stop.

A hilarious film adaptation by Kawasaki Minoru of a parody of the famous 1970s novel Nihon Chinbotsu. Nihon Chinbotsu is the story of the Japanese people losing their homeland and being dispersed throughout the world. Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu is the opposite: the whole world sinks except Japan. The world's survivors all scramble on the small little archipelago occupied by the xenophobic Japanese. With Team America-like line of characters, all extreme stereotypes of their nation, you can't stop laughing. No one escapes the directors critique, from the traditional Japanese guy (who takes advantage of the situation and eats whale), to the Chinese/Korean leaders who suck up to Japan's Prime Minister, to the American Secretary of Defense who regrets not having started a coup d'etat in Japan, and etcetera.

Of course, the story is just incredible. Of course there are going to be those who are going to criticize this movie saying the science behind the disaster is unrealistic, the economic situation of the foreigners would not happen, and that's fine. People who are going to criticize this movie for reasons like that just don't get that they need to suspend their disbelief when watching comedies like this one who's primary focus is not to tell a believable story but a ridiculously funny one.

Then there may be those who claim this is a nationalistic film, but again, those people are the same people who thought Team America was a nationalistic film. They just didn't get the masochistic humor. This movie is critical of not just its own nationality but even the movie itself ("I don't like Japanese movies, they look so cheap").

Finally, this movie will shock you with a surprisingly funny, yet touching end (well, as touching as a comedy can get). I wouldn't say it's a must watch, but it's a good complement to Nihon Chinbotsu as well as being a good stand alone film as well.

Due to rather dubious plate tectonics, every country in the world starts to sink beneath the sea... except Japan. It all happens so quickly that few survive, but the richest and most powerful in each country manage to make it to Japan to escape the watery fate of most of humanity. Politicians and movie stars that were used to being the world's elite find themselves in an entirely different situation in their new homeland, at the mercy of the generosity of their hosts - or failing that, their ability to entertain them.

THE SINKING OF JAPAN was originally a novel, released in 1973, and it spawned a satirical response in the form of a short novel called THE WORLD SINKS EXCEPT JAPAN. When it was announced that the original novel was to be made into a big-budget movie (for the second time) in 2006, the only reasonable thing for Minoru Kawasaki to do was to announce that he would make its satirical brother into a movie too... but on what must doubtless have been a fraction of the budget that could comfortably be rounded down to zero.

Whilst the rest of the world was barely mentioned in passing when Japan sank, here they are foregrounded, and the reaction of the Japanese to having to share their country with an influx of foreigners whom they now have power over is the major focus of the film. Whilst JAPAN SINKS revels in notions of the Japanese spirit excelling and triumphing in the face of adversity, THE WORLD SINKS has a much more realistic view of humanity (not just in Japan) - selfish, vain, petulant, unreliable, untrustworthy and xenophobic.

Whilst WORLD certainly doesn't have the budget for special effects that JAPAN did, it makes up for it by having a smart script and a sense of humour. Characters are mostly ridiculous stereotypes, and the film is cheerfully ridiculous on many occasions. The acting is mostly terrible, but that's not such a bad thing when the film isn't asking us take it seriously and have an emotional response. There are many non-Japanese cast members, and their ability with the language ranges from fluency to barely able to string a sentence together - which fits the situation of their characters.

There are no heroics to be found here, and no heart-warming message about triumph in the face of adversity, which means it's much less nauseating than the film it satirises - and generally more satisfying. It can't be claimed to be a great film because the production values are so bargain basement, but I happily give it... 7.5/10

"The World Sinks Except Japan" is set in the near future. It begins with the United States being destroyed by Earthquakes and floods--and millions of refugees pour into Europe, Australia and Asia. Then, one-by-one, the rest of the nations of the world suffer the same fate...except for Japan. As a result, the country is inundated with immigrants--and the Japanese soon get sick of all these poor freeloaders.

After having seen "The World Sinks Except Japan", I think it was a comedy--a parody of sorts. However, I am not really sure. Does it make fun of the old xenophobic Japan of the WWII era or is it really just a nasty xenophobic flick? I am not sure...and that alone make this a movie that isn't super-satisfying. However, whether it's a joke or not, you really can't help but notice that it's incredibly poorly made. Now part of this could be part of some joke (that I didn't at all understand) but seeing incredibly broad overacting, 'American' actors who can barely speak English at all (you'd think they'd hire more real Americans or actors who could at least approximate the language) and some tacky references (such as making Chinese and Korean leaders lapdogs of the Japanese in the movie--pretty tacky when you think about history and the 1930s) all made me just think the film was bad...and a bit dull to boot.

I appreciate how unabashedly upfront this is. It's one thing to note that it initially throws us directly into the scenario following the titular event, giving immediate perspective on the tableau, before flashing back to the unfolding disaster for exposition. It's another matter to observe how very direct the writing is at large, with dialogue, scene writing, and characterizations filling a narrative that wears its heart on its sleeve, and above all with themes and messaging that are pretty much constantly at the forefront. With all the subtlety of a group of bribed judges legalizing bribery, hamstringing every possibility of oversight, and giving a free pass to criminals who have openly stated their intent to commit crimes and do harm, the picture excoriates not just racism and nationalism, but also classism, capitalism, borders and boundaries of every stripe, the police state, the human frailty by which we readily fall apart and expose our latent prejudices under extreme circumstances - and more, culminating (proverbially speaking) in a giant, glowing sign in 100 foot tall letters that says all our petty differences mean nothing when we all end up in the same place. Wherever the responsibility lies between Tsutsui Yasutaka's novel, Migita Masazaku's screenplay, and Kawasaki Minoru's direction, 'Everything but Japan sinks' makes no bones about what it is.

That flagrancy extends to how the feature presents itself, which is to say with a satirical sense of humor as absolutely wry as possible, wild and cheeky parody, some outright cartoonish tomfoolery, and every now and again, occasional flickers of earnestness. Despite what one may assume based on the premise of every landmass except Japan slipping under the ocean, leading to a humanitarian and immigration crisis, and despite the bigger ideas that this plays with, it actually does earn some laughs, and it really is entertaining. Sometimes that's because it's darkly funny, sometimes because it's wholly outrageous, and sometimes because it draws so heavily from real life that one has to laugh because the alternative is crying; some odds and ends are unexpectedly brilliant, and alternatively, in those moments of sincerity, the film drives in some measure at deeper feelings. And the brazen attitude frankly extends to everything else here, too: not just every facet of the writing, but the boisterous energy in Kawasaki's focused direction, and the gleefully charged acting; the joyfully gratuitous practical effects, and the even brassier artifice of computer-generated imagery; the costume design, hair, and makeup, sometimes even the sets, and so on down the line. 'Everything but Japan sinks' is duly well made, sometimes with deliberate falsehood recalling The Asylum and sometimes with more obvious care, and it touches on meaningful thoughts, and it also happens to be a total lark.

However, with all this having been said, I think the chief problem the movie faces is that the entirety has a hard time fitting together. The varied flavors of comedy clash to some extent, and that heterogeneity becomes more pronounced as the honest storytelling and rumination are laid on top. Love it or hate it I think everyone who contributed turned in terrific, committed work, whatever end to which their participation may have been guided. The whole needed a bit more of an even-handed approach, however, allowing one tenor to hold more sway than the others; I'm inclined to think that the ideal would have been reining in the parodying and cartoonish elements to some degree. I'm pleasantly surprised by how fun this is all told, but the viewing experience is imbalanced as some inclusions are extra bright, other inclusions don't land so well, and there is frequent push and pull in one direction or another. Still, even at that, I had a good time watching. I had mixed expectations, and I was hesitant to watch in the first place because I was in desperate need of something to boost my mood, and I'm glad that my expectations were exceeded at least a little with a title that is more enjoyable and worthwhile than it may seem from the outside looking in. It's sufficiently troubled that any recommendation is a rather soft one, and one hardly needs to go out of their way for it, yet if you're open to something a tad off the beaten path then I think 'Everything but Japan sinks' holds up fairly well and deserves a look if you have the chance on a quiet day.