Three films: Has anybody seen them

[Roland Domenig]

Roger Fischer wrote:
> 
> Has anybody seen one of this films and could he or she comment them
> briefly? Or direct me to other sources?
> Could you also say something about the quality of the films made? Are the
> two films rather mainstream or more "auteurish"?
> Thank you very much
> 
> Rajio no jikan ( Japan 1997)
> Directed by Koki Mitani
>  Also Known As:
> Radio no jikan
> Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald
> 
As Mark pointed out the film was released in Vienna a couple of weeks
ago. The Austrian distributor Polyfilm, which is specialized in
independent productions and 'artfilms', decided to buy the film after
the success it had at the Berlinale last year. 
It was shown as a preview at the open air summer film festival last year
and was an instant success. On March 26th it opened at the Filmcasino,
one of the major arthouse cinemas in Vienna. It run there for three
weeks and is now shown at a second run cinema and still attracting
audiences. 
Interesting is that the number of visitors remained more or less
constant whereas usually it goes down in the second and third week. It
was perceived less as a 'Japanese comedy' (as for instance Gyakufunsha
kazoku was years ago) but rather as a comedy which happen to be made by
a Japanese director. 
A release on video is planed. 

Roland Domenig
Institute for Japanese Studies
University of Vienna