Unsung Hero (2014)

	Also Known As: In the Hero
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Masaharu Take (100 Yen Love)
	Actors: Toshiaki Karasawa (Casshern), Tomori Abe, Cynthia Cheston
	Country: J
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 02.05.2015, Teatro Nuovo, FEFF2015
Synopsis: Faceless, nameless Tokasatsu stuntman (Karasawa) tries to explain his job to a young know-it-all actor that dreams of Hollywood.
Review: The story is about a very professional and experienced team of stuntman, and the dream entertained by some of them of seeing their face on the big screen, not in the shadow of the actor they double for. This is an interesting topic treated lightly at time, very seriously at others, but always with incredibly natural actors. This is really contrasting with other Japanese movies shown at the FEFF2015 like Parasyte, like if there were two cinema schools in Japan: one about realism and the other about appearances. In fact Unsung Hero shows us the two sides: here and there scenes extracted from the movies the actors are working on (including all its fakeness), but most of the time the reality behind the scenes. Those two worlds seamlessly merge during an astounding ending. The poster of the movie is not very exciting, neither is the title. A picture that gives you a better idea of the spirit of the movie is shown at the end of this review. And I actually prefer the alternate title (In the Hero) making reference to part of the job of those stuntmen which consists in body-doubling actors playing in Tokasatsu as soon as they put a mask on for action scenes. Tokasatsu refers to Action/SF/masked hero movies or TV-series in Japan, in the case of this movie to an equivalent of the Power Rangers which I knew as a kid. I like the humour displayed in this movie, from the Kung Fu poses our main character (fan of Bruce Lee) takes in his daily life, to the hilarious moments when the Tokasatsu stuntmen remove their mask to reveal what you wouldn't expect, like a short old dude playing the pink Power Ranger equivalent (see picture below).
Rating: 7 /10