{"id":22713,"date":"2021-05-14T11:25:14","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T18:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22713"},"modified":"2021-05-14T11:25:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T18:25:14","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-giants-and-toys-1958","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22713","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: GIANTS AND TOYS (1958)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This film is currently available on Blu-ray from Arrow\nVideo.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the decades after a film is released, it isn\u2019t unusual to\nsee it begin to show its age. This doesn\u2019t necessarily make the feature bad,\nbut it does transform a movie from a contemporary piece of art into a\nfascinating look back to the ideas and experiences of a particular era. It\u2019s\nrare that a movie actually becomes more accurate and relatable as time passes,\nbut such is the case with Giants and Toys<\/em>. This is a sharp and cutting Japanese\nsatire that has just made its worldwide debut from Arrow Video as a Special\nEdition Blu-ray While it was clearly produced some time ago, the themes and\nideas still feel current and relatable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set in the advertising world, the story follows Y\u00f4suke Nishi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), a recent university grad. He arrives to make his start in the publicity department of World Confectionary, a caramel and chocolate brand whose popularity has been waning. In fact, their sales are lagging well behind competitors Giant and Apollo. Nishi\u2019s cutthroat and career-minded boss Ryuji Goda (Hideo Takamatsu) is determined to increase sales any way they can. While out on the town, they catch sight of an 18-year-old with bad teeth named Kyoko Shima (Hitomi Nozoe) and Goda decides that her unusual attributes will make her a perfect spokesperson for their products. He and Nishi set out to make her into a celebrity and incorporate the youth into a new publicity campaign that will make World the best-selling caramel brand. Initially, the pair are successful, but problems soon arise for everyone after Shima becomes an egotistical star and Nishi becomes aware of backstabbing practices and morally corrupt nature of his profession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The film moves at a rapid pace as it details the fast-paced\nworld of advertising, particularly in creating campaigns and personalities seemingly\nout of thin air. We see the entire process as they slowly turn Shima into a\nmedia sensation. There are also some interesting subplots as the na\u00efve Nishi connects\nwith friends old and new working at Giant and Apollo. They all offer advice and\ndetails, but it is immediately clear that they are either manipulating him (one\ncharacter offers an idea for a new potential campaign, only for Nishi to learn that\nit is already in the works at his own office). The filmmakers make it evident\nthat Nishi may too honest to survive in the corporate world.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And on an even deeper level, the movie comes down\neffectively on consumerism as a whole. This tale is set in post-war Japan with\nthe country was adopting more capitalistic tendencies from the US. The movie\ndeals with the problems associated with the system, as well as how cutthroat,\nbrutal and selfish it can be. The more we learn about the career-minded Goda,\nthe less appealing he becomes. It is revealed that much of his success has come\nfrom marrying the boss\u2019s daughter (whom he treats with disdain), a choice he made\nwith the sole intention of moving up the corporate ladder. Viewers also see the\nnasty effect that fame has on Shima, perhaps most effectively rendered by her\npet tadpoles. They slowly begin to die from lack of feeding as she becomes\nbusier and more consumed by fame.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the big campaign manifests itself, the participants discuss\nmanipulation through media and altering the public\u2019s thoughts and interests based\non what is being presenting to them. We also learn how short-lived the careers\nare of some of the onscreen personalities. The story takes us briefly to a TV\nstudio, where a director details the desperation of one star who used to be the\nfamous face of another promotion. The stress of the situation also physically\nmanifests itself on the publicity heads, with several characters suffering from\nulcers. And as Nishi is asked to participate in more and more reproachable\nactions for the benefit of those in higher positions, the tension between\nhimself and Goda really boils over. In between all of the amusing and elaborate\nstunts that the publicists use to garner press and win the caramel war, there\u2019s\nan endless amount of fascinating commentary to unpack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Visually, movie has an exaggerated and colorful look to it\n(at least, as far as the advertising signs and ad campaigns go), but the office\ninteriors feel very claustrophobic and tightly packed with people and products.\nEven though this feature is over 60 years old and wouldn\u2019t initially appear to\nhave high stakes for the characters, things certainly get grimmer as the story\nprogresses. The fast-talking characters and relentless pace of the caramel and\nchocolate campaigns ultimately keep things engaging from beginning to end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the feature was made well before the days of social\nmedia, this is still a story that is every bit as timely as it was during its\noriginal release. It\u2019s fantastic to see it get proper treatment on Blu-ray. Admittedly,\nthe image quality isn\u2019t as sharp as some of the distributor\u2019s other releases, the\nmovie is bright and sharp, looking better here than it ever has before. There\nare also some great extras that are well worth checking out. The first is a\ndetailed commentary from Japanese film scholar Irene Gonz\u00e1lez-L\u00f3pez. She gives\nplenty of details about the ideas and issues being addressed in the movie, as\nwell as filling in background information on the noted filmmaker Yasuz\u00f4\nMasumura , who directed the picture. She goes over the themes presented in this\ntitle and over his career in general, even delivering recommendations for other\nfilms in his catalog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It also comes with a newly filmed introduction by another\nJapan movie expert Tony Rayns who also imparts information about the director,\nincluding the fact this movie was from an incredibly prolific period in his career.\nHe explains his take on Masumura\u2019s innovative way of showing the amoral and\ncruel nature of big business, contrasting it against a superficially colorful backdrop\nof candy production. A visual essay also offers analysis on the picture. All\nthree participants featured in the extras have varied takes on specific\nelements and it\u2019s fun to hear a variety of interpretations on the material. One\ncritic sees the film\u2019s final moments as a positive step, while another focus on\nthe negative implications of what has occurred. They are all engaging and\nenlightening tracks to listen to. Additionally, a trailer is included and a\nlengthy still gallery of images from the feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, Giants and Toys<\/em> is a great little movie\nthat paints a vision of the future that, for better or for worse, has now come\nto exist. Both the movie and the Blu-ray are highly recommended and those who\nenjoy Japanese cinema or dark satire are well-advised to pick up this little-known\nbut important little gem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film is currently available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video. In the decades after a film is released, it isn\u2019t unusual to see it begin to show its age. This doesn\u2019t necessarily make the feature bad, but it does transform a movie from a contemporary piece of art into a fascinating look back to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[87,1832,1836,2928,3705,3807,3852,3894,4282,8307,8308,8309,8310,9147,9191,9221,10385,13611,16471,17693],"class_list":["post-22713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-87","tag-arrow","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-business-world","tag-campaign","tag-capitalism","tag-caramel","tag-chocolate","tag-giants-and-toys","tag-giants-and-toys-blu-ray","tag-giants-and-toys-blu-ray-review","tag-giants-and-toys-review","tag-hideo-takamatsu","tag-hiroshi-kawaguchi","tag-hitomi-nozoe","tag-japan","tag-media","tag-publicity","tag-satire"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}