MOVIE REVIEW : 4 New Japanese Directors Bow in ‘Mad’

The original title of the sleek and breezy “I’m Plenty Mad!” (Little Tokyo Cinema 1) is “Bakayaro!” which translates as “Fool!” and is the most common Japanese expression of exasperation. Composed of four comical vignettes written by director Yoshimitsu Morita, the film introduces four promising new directors.

All four stories are slight, which is generally the case with the omnibus film, yet each reveals the impassioned desire of an individual to smash through the traditional Japanese custom of maintaining a facade of polite impassiveness even in the face of extreme provocation.

All four have their slack moments, but they are very contemporary and their casts young, capable and attractive. “I’m Plenty Mad!” is like a breath of fresh air amid Shochiku studio’s usual genre offerings.

In “What’s Wrong With Eating?” shy, diminutive Shizuka (Haruko Sagara) has a tall, handsome and prosperous fiance (Tsuyoshi Ihara) so exacting that he checks out the labels on all her clothes and accessories--”So-so but standard,” he declares--before making love to her, then backs out because he’s convinced that she’s put on three centimeters (just a little over an inch) on her waistline. This is only the beginning with this impossible guy, the kind women complain about to Dear Abby and Ann Landers.

The beautiful and elegant Sae (Narumi Yasuda) in “Too Far to Love” has an equally vexing problem: She lives so far from the center of Tokyo with her widowed, ailing father that she has no time for a serious romance with her frustrated boyfriend (Hiroshi Isobe). The first was directed by Eriko Watanabe, who has her own theatrical company, and the second by Tetsuya Nakajima, a TV commercials director; their work is graceful and to the point.

Morita’s former assistant, Takahito Haro, directed “Put Yourself in the Driver’s Seat,” which chronicles an evening with a nice-guy taxi driver (Yasuo Daichi) in Tokyo, a city more grueling to drive in than either Los Angeles or New York. Nice comic touch: Among the variety of people Daichi picks up is a veteran cabbie who on his day off works out his hostilities on his fellow taxi drivers.

The last and the strongest of the four is “To Hell With English,” which tells of a young executive (Kaoru Kobayashi) desperately trying to master English in preparation for running his company’s Chicago office. Kobayashi is a delight as this game, severely put-upon fellow, and Leo Mengetti offers us a definitive portrayal of the loud-mouthed ugly American businessman. A veteran of music videos, Yukihiko Tsutsumi directs with much energy.

“I’m Plenty Mad!” (Times-rated Mature for adult situations and some blunt language--in English) leaves us wanting to see more of its young talent on both sides of the camera.