Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (1997) [Film Review]

Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald; or, The Time of Radio
     Radio drama has something TV doesn't. For example, if you do sci-fi on TV, in order to compete with Hollywood movies, you need expensive special effects and computer graphics. But in radio, a narrator can just say "outer space", and there you are, out in space! With radio you can go as far as the imagination itself!
The film Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald marks the cinematic debut of Koki Mitani, after having directed theatre plays and TV shows. The movie is not only a love letter to immortal radio dramas, but it also serves as an homage to the movies of Juzo Itami. Unsurprisingly, it won three Japanese Academy Awards upon its release.

Release Info

Directed by: Koki Mitani Starring: Kyoka Suzuki, Toshiaki Karasawa, Keiko Toda, Masahiko Nishimura

Language: Japanese Original Title: ラヂオの時間 Runtime:103 min

Synopsis
Miyako Suzuki (Kyoka Suzuki) is a housewife who won the Radio Benten Drama Competition (actually, she was the only contestant). She wrote a screenplay for a romance drama called The Woman of Destiny. The radio managers intend to make a premiere of the drama as a live broadcast due to start at midnight. Everything seems to be in order and the general rehearsal is flawless. However, the main actress, Nokko Senbon (Keiko Toda), demands that the name of her character should be changed from Ritsuko to Mary Jane. This ridiculous request sets in motion a chain of numerous rewrites. As a result, Miyako together with director Kudo (Toshiaki Karasawa) and the rest of the cast and crew make stuff up just as the show is on the air. The Woman of Destiny becomes a drama about an ambitious lawyer from Chicago torn between the love for two men: Heinrich and Donald McDonald.

Drama Magic
I have to say that I saw Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald a few years ago first time round, but only after revisiting the film recently, I realised how much I love it. Movies about the charm of radio times constitute an entire genre of their own (most obvious examples, Radio Days (1987) and Radioland Murders (1994)), and Koki Mitani’s movie definitely occupies a top place among them.

You brag about Sam Mendes who filmed 1917 (2019) in such a way that it looks like one, continuous shot? In that case, watch the first scene of Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald which, indeed, is a real single shot which lasts 5 minutes! Even though the film’s setting is the same for the majority of the story (the recording studio), the wacky screenplay provides enough of dynamic pace and exciting twists to make it an entertaining flick. 

Maybe it is just me, but I have an affinity for stories about people working late in empty offices. Huge advantage of the film are heart-warming characters who make stuff up as they go along. All in all, the subplot about mysterious pilot/astronaut Mr. Donald McDonald has to receive some kind of closure!

In addition, you can spot such nods to Juzo Itami as a small cameo from Nobuko Miyamato herself and the return of Yaro, a truck driver from the film Tampopo (played by the great Ken Watanabe). There are also Yoshimasa Kondo and Masahiko Nishimura (both of whom appeared in Itami’s Marutai no Onna (1997)).

Needless to say, the final act of the film is so epic that it made me do an air punch. Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald may be primarily a comedy, but it is also a thoughtful commentary on the show business and how one’s passion influences creativity.

Recommendations
If you like the movies of Juzo Itami and Koki Mitani, then you need to check this film ASAP. It is a superb movie that will certainly warm you up inside during Autumn evenings. If you will happen to grab the Japanese DVD edition, then you are in for a bonus commentary track from the director himself. All things considered, Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald is just fantastic!Overall score: 10/10

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