Films at the Embassy of Japan: Nowhere Man （無能の人）

Nowhere Man （無能の人）
Directed by Naoto Takenaka / 1991 / 107 min
(Japanese language with English subtitles)

Wednesday 27 September 2017

Open 18:00 | Special talk 18:30 - 19:00 | Film starts at 19:00

 

Sukezo, once a well-known manga artist in the country, now sells rocks. He gave up his career in the comic world when he became sick of its commercialisation. Much to the chagrin of his family, he begins his new career by setting up shop in a shed at the riverside. The rock business suits his personality as he hates to throw anything away. After all, rocks are free and abundantly available along the river. Not surprisingly, the business does not go well. One day he reads about stone auctions taking place for amateurs and goes to meet the president of Japan’s Rock Appreciation Society. He takes his family stone-hunting in the mountains and tries to auction off their crops. With his family becoming steadily poorer, his marriage deteriorates as his wife is forced to make ends meet by taking a part-time job and even resorts to stealing vegetables from a neighbour’s garden…

The film is a parable about the perils and pressures exerted on those who resist the competitive atmosphere of modern Japan. A human drama portraying dropouts from society in a humorous manner.

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