Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers!   Starring: Eriko Sato, Aimi Satsukawa, Masatoshi Nagase and Hiromi Nagasaku Third Window Films RRP: £14.99 Certificate: 15 Available 01 May 2009

Returning home following the death of her parents, young and unsuccessful aspiring actress Sumika Wago discovers that there is no more money to fund her non-existent career. This forces her to move in with her siblings, her teenage sister, Kyomi and her elder brother, Shinji and his wife Machiko. Things do not go well as this is a family full of secrets, not least of which is Kyomi using one of the family’s most shameful secrets as a basis for her budding manga writing career. Trapped together in the house the hidden resentments and tensions soon start to show their strain on the family...

Funuke: Show some Love, You Losers! (Funuke domo, kanashimi no ai wo misero. 2007 - 1 hr, 52 min, 48 sec) is a dark and disturbing drama about a dysfunctional family. The film was directed by Daihachi Yoshida, his first outing in the big chair. He also wrote the screenplay, an adaptation of the novel by Yukiko Motoya.

The film garnered wide critical praise and went on to win nine awards with an additional nomination, with nearly half the awards going to Hiromi Nagasaku, in her role of supporting actress - awards she richly deserved.

A word of warning, this film is deliciously warped and has much in common with Todd Solondz’s Happiness (1998) so please check your sense of good taste at the door, this comedy is black.

Although the three women in the house all aspire to some form of artistry - Sumika, who is willing to sleep her way into an acting job, even though she is a pretty lousy actress; Kyomi is willing to use her family's bizarre and dubious relationships as the basis for her manga career; and lastly Machiko, who has moved out to the countryside in search of the joys of a simple family life only to find herself married into a twisted version of the Adams Family, finds solace in making dolls from household refuse.

Her indomitable resolve to remain cheerful in the overwhelming avalanche of bitter sibling rivalries produce some of the best laugh out loud sequences in the film. So, the acting laurels most certainly go to Hiromi Nagasaku whose upbeat performance throws the darkness at the heart of the other members of her household into starker relief.

Dysfunctional families have been a staple of Asian cinema and this film is one of the best available. The cast is very strong and it was nice to see nubile Eriko Sato being given a chance to explore more emotions than the fixed look of surprise that she achieved in Cutie Honey (2004). The rest of the cast all give solid performances.

Sad to say the disc has no extras apart from fourteen trailers, that’s adverts to you and me, so don’t count as extras, neither are there any audio option other than Korean 2.0 with burnt in subtitles. The widescreen print is bright and free of any dirt or damage.

8

Charles Packer