Through a hole croakingly - Review of "A laughing frog"

One of the films introduced by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp in their list of 21st c. Japanese top films in Katei Gaho International, A Laughing Frog (2002; director: Hirayama Hideyuki) is a rather subdued comedy - not only because it is a bit low-key, but also because the whole film is situated in one and the same location, making it more a theater play then a film.

Kurasawa Ippei (Nagatsuka Kyozo) used to be a bank executive, but he was caught with is hand in the till. Now he is on the run. Desperately, he seeks a hideout in the summerhouse of his in-laws... where to his surprise, his wife, Ryoko (Otsuka Nene), now lives. She agrees to hide him in the closet for a week if he agrees to sign the divorce papers.

Ryoko is a characteristic Japanese young lady (ojosama, Mark Schilling calls her), immaculate, cool, and sweetly superior. She is also a winner, in contrast to husband Ippei who is the pathetic, archetypical loser.

From his hideout, Ippei observes Ryoko's new life, where there is no place for him anymore: she has a relationship with a succesfull carver of gravestones, who not only is greater in bed, but even cooks for her.

This is also where the frogs come in: croaking in the garden as if they where laughing their wits out, they join the chorus of Ryoko's orgastic moans when she is bedded by Mr Gravestone, while Ippei looks impotently on through his hole in the cupboard, peeing in a bucket because he has drunk too much beer. Did anybody say that Japan is a "male dominated society?"

Note to DVD Publishers: If you wish to have your title reviewed on this website, please contact us by the contact form to arrange for sending us a review copy.