Toad’s Oil (ガマの油)

2008, 131 minutes

Review by Susan Meehan

Yakusho Koji, well-known for his roles in Shall We Dance?, The Eel and Babel makes his directorial debut with Gama no Abura (ガマの油 – Toad’s Oil), which was the opening film at this year’s “Premiere Japan 2009” event (see last issue for more details).

‘Gama no abura’ is an old wives’ tale, a legendary curative ointment made from toad’s oil, extracted by incarcerating a toad in a small box lined with mirrors.  The toad’s fright at seeing such a foul reflection causes it to break out in greasy sweat which is then collected and used to prepare the panacea.

Yakusho Koji’s frenetic character, nicknamed “easy money gambler” by his son, owes his millionaire status to successfully playing the stock market. In the manner of the trapped toad, surrounded by computers rather than mirrors which alert him to the state of his shares, he frenziedly trades alternating between howls and hysterical laughs at each loss and manically punching for joy and shooting toy pistols on recouping and surpassing his losses.

Once the scene is set, Takuya, his delightfully likable and telegenic son, played by Eita (瑛太), sets off from his lavish mansion to meet his ebullient, bordering on the irritating, girlfriend Hikari (二階堂ふみ). The date is cut short when Takuya mentions having to meet his best friend, Akiba, due to be released later that day from a reform school. Leaving a petulantly jealous Hikari, Takuya is hit by a van and falls into a coma.

Desperate for Takuya to regain consciousness, his parents and Akiba keep a constant bedside vigil and “easy money gambler” strikes up a telephone relationship with Takuya’s girlfriend, Hikari who is kept blissfully unaware of Takuya’s condition.

The story unfolds with the occasional surreal turn. While it eventually succeeds in conveying a message of the importance of friends and family and love, it seemed rather disoriented and the allusion to the legendary ‘gama no abura’ forced. The stars of the film are, undoubtedly, Takuya and Akiba, played by K-1 fighter Junichi Sawayashiki (澤屋敷純一).