WELCOME BACK MR. MCDONALD (Japan with subtitles)
A review by Mark R. Leeper in bullet-list form
from the Toronto Internation Film Festival
CAPSULE: Very funny TV-like situation comedy of people trying to put on a live radio play and having to change the plot many times mid- broadcast. The territory it covers is very, very much like the American cable TV show "Remember WENN." Somehow the plot seems a little thin for a feature film, but still a lot of fun. Rating: 6 (0 to 10), 1 (-4 to +4)
- Written and directed by Koki Mitani. - Staff of radio station is putting on an amateur play that won a contest. Turns out that this was really the only entrant in the contest. - The play is not screened by all parties involved and the initial changes are to correct the redundancy of "lift up." A prima donna actor insists on a name change. This is the first spark of a firestorm of plot changes. - Story within story gets more and more contrived and absurd. - Story could have been done on American Movie Channel's "Remember WENN." In fact something very similar probably was done. - Some of the contrivances of getting around restrictions on the script are fairly humorous. - Fairly believable set of script changes. Director said that all had happened at one time or another to him when working at a station. A good reason why radio drama is taped.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1998 Mark R. Leeper
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