Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Don't Believe the Hype

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Giants and Toys is a movie with lots of very interesting ideas and if the movie would have been done right it could have easily been a 9/10 for me, which, if you know me, is not a score I give a movie for free. The directing of this movie however missed the point and there was no focus which made the movie seem like a bit of a mess and after you finish it, rather than a coherent picture only bits and pieces stick with you which were the great parts and ideas of the movie.The tone for example was all over the place. It started off as a fast paced comedy and then later introduced dramatic and thought provoking concepts that deal with the ruthlessness of business and the suffering people have to endure to succeed. Those 2 tones don't really mix well and slowing down your pacing in order to really capture your image of business would have helped to really convey the idea.The movie also deals with the idea of how people change and become monsters when they become inclined in the nature of business, but sadly didn't manage to capture that with their most important character, the protagonist. He starts off as a naïve young guy new to business and ends in the same way while everything around him changes. I sadly very rarely see in Japanese movies this sort of character development where a good guy is turned into some sort of monster through his environment (you have a few movies which go somewhat in that direction, such as Akira, but you don't have those character developments in Japanese movies as you see in: Citizen Kane, the shining, lord of war, blow or prestige). This sort of character development that can really hammer home the ideas behind the movie is sadly missing in some movies that would really need it, most noticeable this movie. So yeah, Giants and Toys is a good movie, its entertaining well-acted, nicely shot, has a lot to say about businesses and how they are run and is surely worth a watch, but with the right focus to what this movie actually should be, it could have been way better (but ofc also way worse depending on the focus).

Yasuzo Masumura's Giants and Toys is a film that's truly ahead of its time, in the context of Japanese cinema comparable only to Yoshishige Yoshida's Blood is Dry, released three years after, as both films deal with bizarre manifestations of cruel corporatism and the fickle nature of fame in a commercialized world. Masumura's movie (based on Takeshi Kaiko's novel) was released in the late fifties, but is still relevant today. And this was one of his first films! The lack of budget is visible, but the self-assured manic filming style hides it perfectly. The two leads from Masumura's debut film Kisses return here, with Hitomi Nozoe giving us one of the most effortlessly hilarious performances in '50s cinema.Right from the intro showing us a single photo being virally reproduced into oblivion, pop-art style, to the opening image of uniformed men walking in unison, Masumura pinpoints his two main targets; the grotesque nature of commercialism which produces overnight sensations and later discards them with equal ease, and the soulless corporate machine operating under the "If we stop to think, we'll get crushed" mentality. The aggressive message is further laid out in some nuanced layers of symbolism, such as equaling instant-superstars to tadpoles quickly turning into frogs or comparing the company executives to kids playing with toys, to some not-so-subtle but still effective jokes, like naming the three competing caramel companies "World", "Giant" and "Apollo". In the chaotic world of Giants and Toys, the executives' lighters still don't seem to work, despite the immense planning and organization skills wasted on exploitative banalities. It may be a bit repetitive, and the intro song kinda sucks, but there's no point in denying that this film was far ahead of what most of the world produced back then.

While I did enjoy the stylish photography and the sometimes clever characterization, the movies ham-handed handling of theme was too much. The theme is thrown at the viewer often, including being inserted into several scenes of preachy dialogue.The story was obviously written around a theme, first, and failed to maintain emotionally engaging characters throughout. Too bad, as several characters became interesting, only to have that interest thrown away by another dialogue rant and an abrupt ending that doesn't build to a satisfying moral dilemma - the character dilemma is certainly there, but the story engagement is not enough to make me care. I dislike rating any art with a measurement, such as the 5 out of 10 stars I gave this film; measurements are meaningless when it comes to art - they can't be proved with a yardstick, so to speak. So take my rating with a grain of salt. You may absolutely love this movie.

This could very well be the greatest cinematic exposé on the eat-or-be-eaten attitude of corporations. Three rival caramel companies war with each other. The film focuses on the marketing departments of these companies. Think Cola Wars and you'll have a clue. This film was made in 1958, but it feels very modern. And the new Fantoma DVD is so pristine that it looks as if it were made yesterday. I've never seen a Criterion DVD even approach this quality. Please, give Fantoma your money. Order all four of the Yasuzo Masumura DVDs as I did! 10/10.