The international success of the ultra-violent satire Battle Royale gave most Western film buffs their introduction to the wild and prolific career of Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku. But for those who prefer something more accessible than a hail of bullets and bloody action, Fall Guy is a great place to start, since it represents the peak of Fukasaku's popular appeal (it won five of Japan's Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Actress, and Actor) and offers plenty of humor and heartfelt drama, while also displaying a deep love of movies. The story involves a selfish veteran movie star named Ginshiro (Morio Kazama), whose over-inflated ego is bruised when a rising star threatens to steal his spotlight. His public image is suffering and he doesn't want to care for his pregnant mistress's imminent child, so he encourages a devoted member of his entourage to marry the girl and support her as a stuntman (who must perform increasingly dangerous stunts to pay the bills). Equal parts action comedy, love triangle, and valentine to showbiz, Fall Guy achieves a delightful depth of character while offering a wry insider's look at the making of a samurai action film. The DVD includes a 12-minute interview with the late Fukasaku (who died in 2003 while working on Battle Royale 2). Recommended. (J. Shannon)
Fall Guy
Home Vision, 108 min., in Japanese w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.95 Volume 20, Issue 3
Fall Guy
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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