Arcane satire on modern middle-class Japanese education; or more specifically, on the ninth student from the bottom of his class, and his highly ambiguous (but highly effective) tutor. It is often difficult to pick out the joke, or even the basic point, of a scene; and such uncertainty is more harmful to comedy than to other fictional moods. If only the ideas were as clear as the images! The luminous screen seems almost like a lampshade lit up from behind; and the compositions, such as the shot of the school playground from three floors up, have terrific impact. Directed by Yoshimitsu Morita. (1984) — Duncan Shepherd
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