Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers! (2007)

The offspring of the Wago family have their world turned upside down when their parents are run over because a cat stood its ground in the middle of the road. High-schooler Kyomi seems most upset, but this is as nothing compared to the distress she feels on hearing that her big sister Sumika is on her way home - just in time to miss the funeral. Sumika's stepbrother Shinji is more ambivalent about Sumika's arrival, but then they share a past. Shinji's put-upon wife Machiko will meet Sumika for the first time. Her downtrodden existence will look rainbow-coloured by comparison.Manga, family strife and buried sexual tension are the main ingredients of Japanese dark comedy. They combine wonderfully here in this claustrophobic tale of dysfunctional family relationships. Amoral Sumika spends most of her time punishing Kyomi for exposing her deficiencies years ago in a prize-winning manga. Geeky Kyomi has the inner strength to gaman through her sister's bullying, taking succor in her ever-developing manga skills. Shinji is hopelessly compromised by Sumika, and it is Machiko who feels the sharp edge of his frustration. No one seems to like anyone else very much. The recently-dead parents are hardly missed.Eriko Satô confounds many who categorised her as eye candy fodder for the B-movie market. She is both seductive and scary as the near mythical Sumika. Hiromo Nagasaku has built up an impressive CV over the years, and gives the most layered performance here as a woman who endures an awful present only because it pales compared to her dreadful past. Veteran Masatoshi Nagase plays Shinji deadpan, a performance that pays off as his fate is the most touching of all. Aimi Satsukawa completes the ensemble and to her credit does not get lost among her senpai, exuding inner strength as the ostensibly weakest third sibling.Daihachi Yoshida's screenplay sparkles as comedy and pathos are finely balanced in this amplified but all-too-believable tale of the truly terrible things families do to each other. Great entertainment.

Being one of the few Japanese black humour film I've watched, "Funuke Domo, Kanashimi No Ai Wo Misero" turned out to be most interesting. With well drawn characters and a plot full of twists and turns, this film captured my interest throughout.Though it begins with the sad death of the parents, the characters seems to be sad and worried of other matters as the story progresses. A selfish, untalented actress; another quiet, secretive sister; the hardworking, sympathetic brother and his cheery, selfless wife, this combination holds to its roots as the story unfolds to also show glimpses from the past that have greatly influenced the tensions in the present. The cinematography contain numerous scenes of Japan's serene countryside with a very compatible soundtrack throughout the film.Eriko Satô's performance as Sumika is brilliant. The rest of the cast was excellent as well. Hiromi Nagasaku as Machiko, especially in the few scenes where her sweetness and joy is distorted with eerily spoken words and facial expression, was very good. Script was intelligent as well with many instances of controlled agitation, bizarre twists as well as unsettling humour quite rampant as it goes.This film may make you think. Even though the elements of chaotic drama are present, it very well relates to real life and that fact may be shocking as well. Impressed with the direction here, I hope to follow more of Daihachi Yoshida's films.

A good title, twisted family drama, black humor that hurts more than it tickles, a little sexual deviance, beautiful women. Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers! has it all.The films starts with a gruesome bus accident that kills the parents of siblings Shinji, Sumika, and Kiyomi. Kiyomi, an aspiring manga artist, witnesses it and decides the images would make good material for her next project. Four years ago, in their countryside home, elder sister Sumika (Eriko Sato) carved a checkerboard into her father's forehead because he wouldn't finance her dream of moving to Tokyo to become an actress. She turned to prostitution. Younger sister Kiyomi (Aimi Satsukawa) used her sister's actions as manga material and got it published. Sumika, in shame, left for Tokyo. The two sisters have not gotten along since. The death of the parents comes at a good time for Sumika who hasn't made it as an actress and is deeply in debt. She returns to her country homestead in the hopes of collecting some inheritance but finds out there isn't any. The rest of the story, although intricately woven, is not important here. Suffice to say the three siblings have deep dark secrets and rivalries that come boiling to the surface. It's the performances that make this film so good.Robo-babe, pin-up girl, horror queen, and Cutie Honey: Live Action star Eriko Sato gives the performance of her career as the relentlessly cruel and self-absorbed Sumika. Sometimes a role is just made for someone, and Sato takes this one and runs with it. Aimi Satsukawa brings wonderful pathos to the asthmatic, innocent yet deeply disturbed, Kiyomi. Veteran actor Masatoshi Nagase is solid and creepy as the brother who's gone where brothers are not supposed to go with sister Sumika. Sato is the star of the film and the whole thing would be unbearably dark and cruel if it weren't for the hilarious and wholesome performance of Hiromi Nagasaku as Shinji's wife, Machiko. Shinji procured Machiko via a marriage agency and Machiko, wanting to escape the demands and false hopes of the city thinks she will settle nicely into the lives of some good ol' down home country folk. Oops. Nagasaku, deservedly, has won multiple awards for her performance. She elevates every film she is in and this one is no exception. She plays the straight man to all the morbid cruelty going on around her. Her Machiko is as much of a failure as everyone else but she hasn't learned to take it out on others. She just wants everyone to get along.Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers! takes the theme of dysfunctional family drama and wrings it dry. If you like your humor dark and cruel, punctuated with double-takes that are sweet, wholesome, and absurd, you'll love this movie.

Offbeat family drama starring Eriko Sato (Cutey Honey, Carved).When their parents are killed in a bizarre cat-rescuing incident, the dysfunctional Wago siblings are reluctantly forced to endure each other once more under the same roof.Sumika (Sato) is a selfish wannabe actress, only returning to her quiet, rural home to collect her inheritance. When she finds there's no money and she cannot return to Tokyo for fear of a ruthless loan shark, she immediately recommences terrorising her younger sister Kyomi and elder stepbrother Shinji, and his new and relentlessly upbeat and optimistic wife Machiko (a wonderful turn by Hiromi Nagasaku).While being a black comedy from the get-go, 'Funuke' soon gets darker and more demented, as the family's history of violence, prostitution and dark secrets are revealed.While it's no classic, it's a good looking flick made with style and bolstered by some well measured and memorable performances.The 'Third Window' UK DVD release is technically decent enough, but there are no extras.