A vintage Japanese comedy director. If you love kooky characters, closed-off biotopes, and jolly chaos, Mitani has you covered. His films are a tad old-fashioned maybe, but they're accomplished, and never dull or uneventful.
Movies
The Kiyosu Conference is good, solid, old-fashioned fun. Mitani has a great cast to his disposal and goes with colorful visuals and an upbeat soundtrack.
The combination of strange plot twists and original turn of events with a warm but deadpan sense of humor is the true winner here.
Koki Mitani's latest film is a typical Mitani production. If you're not familiar with the man's work, it's probably a fun introduction into his oeuvre, others may have been expecting a little more. Not that Hit Me Anyone One More Time is a bad film, on the contrary, but it's not a stand-out Mitani either. After suffering a blow to the head, Kuroda, the prime minister of Japan, wakes up in the hospital. He's lost all of his memories, which gives him a rare opportunity start from scratch. He grabs it with both hands, as he's known as the most hated prime minister in Japanese history (something tells me Mitani found his inspiration across the pond). The film is kooky and fun, serving light, farce-like comedy. A large cast of exaggerated characters twirls around Kuroda while he tries to make things right again, for his family as well as his country. The presentation is nice, actors do a good job and the pacing is perfect. A fine film, the only problem is that I know Mitani can do better.Read all
Impressive, especially for a TV movie. It's vintage Mitani, but the fact that he made it a one-shot movie is not something I was expecting. The comedy is solid, the family banter is fun and the pacing is exquisite. Airport can't really hide its TV roots, but for once I couldn't really a fault a film for that. Watch this if you can.
A Flawless Concierge
An amusing TV project from Koki Mitani. It's not so much a film as a combination of sketches that draw inspiration from the same premise. It's not that different from his regular film work, except that the polish is lacking. That's not too damning for a comedy though, which is why I enjoyed this quite a bit. The film is nothing more than Emi servicing different clients. There's no real plot, none of the visitors return later on, it's all about the comedy. The styling is a bit bland and the sketches aren't the most original, but the stand-out cast and some memorable moments make this an enjoyable ride. Mitani fans won't be disappointed.Read all
