I AM A COMEDIAN

A Once-Celebrated Funnyman Takes on Taboos

Venue(s): Eurospace
From July 6 (Sat), 2024. Check showtimes on the theater website.
Language: All screening are with English subtitles.
Official website: iamacomedian.jp/
Theater website: www.eurospace.co.jp/
Theater website: www.eurospace.co.jp/access/
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-jYtqMEtwk&t=5s&ab_channel=SPACESHOWERFILMS
Tariff: General: ¥1,900, Youth (19 - 22): ¥1,500, Senior: ¥1,300, Under 19: 800, Under 16: ¥500
Advance tickets: Visit theater site for details.

Title: アイアム・ア・コメディアン (Aiamu a Comedian)
Director: Fumiari Hyuga (日向史有)
Duration: 108 min

The long-awaited theatrical debut of Fumiari Hyuga’s 2022 illuminating documentary I Am a Comedian has finally arrived, and all screenings are with English subtitles. You’ll be thankful for this unless you’re adept at understanding the rapid-fire delivery of Japanese manzai routines. And you’ll be thankful for the film, especially if you ever wondered why Japanese standup comedy seemed so apolitical.

I Am a Comedian follows Daisuke Muramoto, a man who has decided to follow his convictions. Despite a celebrated early career with the manzai duo Woman Rush Hour, Muramoto has started nudging the act toward routines about taboo topics like nuclear disasters, governmental corruption and Zainichi Korean discrimination. Soon, the duo (which includes Muramoto’s partner, Paradise Nakagawa) begins losing all-important television opportunities right and left, clearly a tacit punishment for overstepping media rules against political commentary. Eventually, they’re banned from TV by the networks.

The loss of an important platform knocks Muramoto for a loop, but he begins to fight back, and finds new ways to reach a broader audience. The film follows him for three years, as he goes on a lifechanging journey, finding a deeper connection with his family and hinting at a chance for redemption. In the end, I Am a Comedian becomes a deeply emotional portrait of

Director Fumiari Hyuga brought us the must-watch Tokyo Kurds in 2019, about two young refugees who were raised in Japan but are both facing uncertain futures here, after shooting short docs on subjects like the military draft in Ukraine. While this is just Hyuga’s second feature-length film, he once again demonstrates a commitment to illuminating lives outside the status quo. While his work has been widely seen outside Japan, one hopes Japanese viewers will also flock to this theatrical release.

EUROSPACE