This year, the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival presents a special exhibition titled 'The Grand Theatre of Life by Koki Mitani', showcasing the world of Koki Mitani, the grandmaster of Japanese comedy who has spread laughter across films, theatre, and TV. This is an unmissable opportunity to experience Mitani's philosophy and methodology of laughter through a masterclass, as well as to watch his representative work <A Ghost of a Chance> (2011) and the yet-to-be-released in Korea films <Galaxy Turnpike> (2015) and <Hit Me Anyone One More Time> (2019) on the big screen. Before the masterclass, let's take a look at the world of Mitani's works.
Who is the director of the funniest film in Japan recently? One cannot overlook Shinichiro Ueda of <One Cut of the Dead> (2017). The reason for mentioning Ueda when explaining Koki Mitani is that during an interview with this genius of comic sensibility, when asked about directors who influenced him, he naturally mentioned Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson, and among Japanese directors, he named Mitani. Ah! The fresh yet familiar laughter of the chaotic comedy <One Cut of the Dead> was reminiscent of the collective laughter experienced by fans of 90s Japanese films.
That was precisely the legendary comic farce <Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald> (1997). This film, depicting the mishaps during a live radio broadcast, borrowed the framework of classic Hollywood comic farces and combined it with the unique characteristics of Japanese people in a limited radio studio setting. It was a work that had a significant influence on Korean comic films even before Ueda. You might have often seen the phrase 'like Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald' when introducing this type of farce, but before Mitani, there was no phrase to instantly introduce such films, which were only seen in classic Hollywood movies. Moreover, the difference between Mitani's farce and Billy Wilder's classic comic farces like <Sunset Boulevard> (1950) or <Some Like It Hot> (1959) is that Mitani's farce is dizzyingly fast-paced and features a modernized farce with a plethora of witty dialogues from a variety of characters. To summarize, it's a world completed with the framework of Billy Wilder, combined with characters from Tarantino and Guy Ritchie films, and finished as a human comedy like Charlie Chaplin.
When analyzing the 'setting value' of Mitani's world limited to films, it goes like this. If <Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald> was an observation of human groups set in a radio station, <The Uchoten Hotel> (2006) was a mishap involving staff and guests in a hotel on New Year's Eve. The possibilities for introducing this framework are endless. Any confined space can be prepared for a Mitani-style farce. For example, if you go to a courtroom, you get the absurd comic play <A Ghost of a Chance> (2011) combining a murder case and a ghost, if you open a hamburger shop in space, you get the unique Mitani-style SF <Galaxy Turnpike> (2015) with a variety of aliens gathering, and if you model it on the corrupt Japanese political scene, you get the political comic farce <Hit Me Anyone One More Time> (2019) satirizing the prime minister, cabinet, and media.
Creating situations where characters cannot move an inch. Thus, they lie, and those lies lead to bigger lies, eventually capturing the moment when the protagonist loses their way and self-destructs within the situation. Through irony-laden mishaps, Mitani's three-step development, which delves into the diverse dualities of humans and the structural contradictions of groups, is a hallmark that applies to all of Mitani Koki's works after his representative work <Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald>. During the commotion, most of the lacking humanity is restored, leading to a humanistic conclusion, which is why his works are called 'warm farces'. For example, <Hit Me Anyone One More Time> is about a corrupt prime minister who loses his memory after being hit by a stone thrown by a citizen and forgets that he is a notorious villain, leading to his reformation. It stands in the lineage of films like Jim Carrey's <Yes Man> (2008) or Ra Mi-ran's <Honest Candidate> series, and one cannot ignore Mitani's significant influence on such films. Regarding the basis of this humanism, he once explained, "I try to portray the honest appearances of people around me in films. The foundation of that is 'laughter'. The comedy I think of is one where humans cannot help but laugh at humans. Because I express such humans, it can be funny, but on the other hand, human existence is also sad and lonely, so I have to include that aspect as well."
In fact, it is impossible to explain the broad world of Mitani-style laughter limited to films alone. From <Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald>, <The Uchoten Hotel>, <The Magic Hour> (2008), <Galaxy Turnpike>, <Hit Me Anyone One More Time> to plays like <University of Laughter>, <If With You>, and dramas like <Furuhata Ninzaburo>, <The King's Restaurant>, <Shinsengumi!>, <Sanada Maru>, he is active across media. The film industry might want to claim him as a representative director, but in theatre, he is interpreted as a director whose creative origin is theatre, and his films are based on theatrical forms. In TV series like historical dramas and detective stories, he releases sophisticated series reflecting his expertise in the field, continuously producing works recognized for both popularity and artistry across media. Besides his work as a writer and director, he is also a regular on entertainment shows alongside Takeshi Kitano, which is surprisingly one of his main activities rather than a side job.
Since his debut as a writer with the drama <Super Girl! Haruhi Wonder Love> in 1986, he has maintained a superhero-level creative schedule for nearly 40 years, writing dramas when not writing films, writing plays when not writing films, and appearing on broadcasts in his spare time. Although he is first described as a 'genius writer', producing this level of work is impossible without effort and labour beyond genius, and he continues to update his filmography. The core keyword that allows him to manage all this without tiring across films, broadcasts, theatre, and media is 'laughter'. "I've never thought of a work without laughter. I always think about how to make people laugh," says Director Koki Mitani, who cannot be explained without laughter in the 'genealogy of laughter' in Japanese films.
After <A Ghost of a Chance>, actress Eri Fukatsu, who collaborates with the so-called 'Mitani troupe', said, "There are almost no comedy films in Japan, so I wanted to try it. I wanted to know about comedy," revealing that working with him is a direct shortcut to the world of comedy. This unique comic worldview makes Mitani's works successful and enables the participation of an incredible cast of actors, including Koichi Sato, Takashi Kobayashi, Shingo Katori, Satoshi Tsumabuki, and Yoneko Matsugane, who are willing to line up for even small roles in his works. Known for not socializing or meeting outside of work periods and having a reserved personality, he does not lose the ability to gather actors and staff solely based on the characteristics of his works, without starting from or adding to personal connections.
Adding one more element that perfectly matches his creativity based on diligence and sincerity, Koki Mitani's name, Koki (幸喜), was taken by his sumo fan father from the sumo wrestler Taiho Koki, and Koki means 'happiness and joy'. Interestingly, the name itself explains the style and core element of his works.
Finally, a memory from a few years ago when I met Mitani. During his busy schedule in Korea, I remember him being curious and asking about the fast typing of journalists. It seems incredible how he creates so many diverse characters from almost no original works, but he says he enjoys 'observing people' and gets ideas for his works from there. "I think a lot about what makes people laugh, and in the end, people laugh at people. They laugh through the gestures, speech, and words people use."
There is a part where Mitani propagates his philosophy of laughter through his works. One of his representative works, the play <University of Laughter>, seriously delves into the function of 'laughter'. In a world where censorship is rampant and comedy is banned, the censor who tries to stop the writer from writing a comic play eventually says after interrogating the writer for a week, "I have lived without knowing such a fun world exists. I couldn't stop laughing for a week." The laughter maintained by the writer can ultimately change the censor's values and become a catalyst for changing the world. Like a laughter therapist who does not forget the innocent belief that laughter can heal the world, he continues to unfold the positive function of laughter in every work.
It's no exaggeration to say that in the distant future, if Japan's national director Mitani were to disappear, the Japanese film industry might face a 'crisis of losing laughter'. This is why we still await Mitani's kind farces in the current trend where provocative content dominates.
<A Ghost of a Chance>
8th 16:30 CGV Sopung Hall 5 Code 521
10th 19:30 CGV Sopung Hall 6 Code 731
<Galaxy Turnpike>
7th 20:00 CGV Sopung Hall 9 Code 435
<Hit Me Anyone One More Time>
7th 13:00 Korea Manhwa Museum (Masterclass) Code 412
10th 14:00 Bucheon City Hall Eoul Madang Code 708
