Alicia
I love this movie so much
Salubfoto
It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
MartinHafer
"The World Sinks Except Japan" is set in the near future. It begins with the United States being destroyed by Earthquakes and floods--and millions of refugees pour into Europe, Australia and Asia. Then, one-by-one, the rest of the nations of the world suffer the same fate...except for Japan. As a result, the country is inundated with immigrants--and the Japanese soon get sick of all these poor freeloaders.After having seen "The World Sinks Except Japan", I think it was a comedy--a parody of sorts. However, I am not really sure. Does it make fun of the old xenophobic Japan of the WWII era or is it really just a nasty xenophobic flick? I am not sure...and that alone make this a movie that isn't super-satisfying. However, whether it's a joke or not, you really can't help but notice that it's incredibly poorly made. Now part of this could be part of some joke (that I didn't at all understand) but seeing incredibly broad overacting, 'American' actors who can barely speak English at all (you'd think they'd hire more real Americans or actors who could at least approximate the language) and some tacky references (such as making Chinese and Korean leaders lapdogs of the Japanese in the movie--pretty tacky when you think about history and the 1930s) all made me just think the film was bad...and a bit dull to boot.
arjuna
This is the kind of movie I would have liked to have written myself about Japan and the foreigner experience. This is a well-written, original, totally tongue-in-cheek farce. Foreigners living in Japan spend all of their time talking about the strangeness of the experience, but it had yet to be made into good literature. It's hard to be funny (as a comedy or satire) for the full duration of a movie, and also all movies, in general, tend to founder and become clichéd in the second half, after their structural pretexts have been presented. But this one continues to deliver and be trenchantly funny and topical and original all the way through. That is rare for a comic piece. Highly recommended if you can get your hands on it, especially for anyone who has lived as a foreigner in Japan, or any Japanese who have had close relations with foreigners in Japan. People who don't know Japan will not understand the farce, and will not like this movie. People who know Japan will be rolling in the aisles.
simber2
Well well, It seems most reviewers here just don't get it...Having lived in Japan for 3 years, I can tell you that what Minoru Kawasaki is courageously trying to do is what Americans would need in order to get back a vital minimum of self-criticism toward their own issues with nationalism...This is a major political statement typical from a new generation of Japanese artist who are trying to shake things up a bit.Brilliant stuff if you do have a second degree of understanding things. Otherwise, well, just watch the parodied movie "japan sinks",utter rubbish that came out the same year with about 2000% of the budget and think for yourself, if you can.
CountZero313
Let's get the bottom line out of the way first: Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu isn't funny. Given the fame and high profile of the film this is parodying, it is a brilliant idea with huge comic potential. Tragically, the execution fails to mine even a fraction of that potential. I smiled at the "gaijin report," weather forecast-style reporting of gaijin 'fronts' around the country. The Chinese and Korean leaders reduced to vaudeville performing sidekicks of the Japanese PM was mildly amusing - ditto their revenge at the end of the film. I came to the film expecting outrageous laugh-out-loud moments but barely managed a titter. In a film like this, we expect the low production value, cheesy effects, ham-fisted acting and nondescript casting. We put up with them in the hope that all the effort has gone into the script. Admirably, the film takes pot-shots at both gaijin and Japanese pretensions. Unfortunately, at the risk of repeating myself, it just isn't funny. In fact, most of the time it is downright boring. All in all, a missed opportunity.