Sometimes when you’re looking for a great film you have to take a chance. With no research, chosen on a plot summary, peculiar title and innuendo filled cover art, Shinobu Yaguchi’s Wood Job! has become not only one of my favourite films of 2014, but it’s found a place in my all-time list.
Before I go on I need to clarify that my all-time list is not a list of the greatest movies ever made. Nor is it a list of the greatest achievements in cinematography, acting performances or script writing. These are my favourites, the films I can watch over and over again and never lose faith that they’ll make me laugh, cry and jump, but mostly they make me smile. I say this, because Wood Job! is not an Oscar winner, but that isn’t always a BAD thing. Slammed by Guardian critics at Cannes as being aimed at kids and receiving little European attention since, Wood Job! is a simple mix of heart-warming story with a predictable plot and laugh out loud physical comedy…and it is fantastic!
Wood Job! tells the story of Yuki Harano (Shota Sometani), a recently graduated high school who after failing to get into college is inspired by a beautiful woman on a flyer to enter a forestry training programmed in a small mountain town. A tale of personal growth and love we see this city slicker go from failure to hero with a thousand laughs along the way.
What is great about Wood Job! is its simplicity, the characters are likeable, the plot simple and the jokes are funny. After you put this film on its time to turn your brain off, your heart on and laugh. The characters are simple but played to perfection, I have to real credit to Hideaki Ito for his performance of Yoki Lida’s instructor and landlord who through his portrayal of a stupid but loveable tough-man puts a shine on the whole film. It’s true success however, came in that it had that feel good factor that leaves you feeling anything is possible and maybe I can achieve my dreams and life IS worth living. That’s what puts a film on my list and Wood Job! has it in abundance.
Similar to A Story of Yonosuke, fans of Japanese comedy, comedy in general and for people who enjoy being happy this film is a must see. For me…Wood Job! is a revelation. Sorry Guardian.
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