ROBO-G

Kobayashi, Ohta and Nagai, three flunky employees of Kimura Electric, are ordered by the company president to develop a bipedal robot for the upcoming Robot Expo. But just one week before the big event, their robot-in-production, “New Shiokaze” is smashed to smithereens! The desperate trio hatches a plan to use a human inside instead and organize auditions to find a candidate that fits perfectly inside a robot costume. The winner is 73-year old Shigemitsu Suzuki, a lonely, retired office worker. Little do they know that grandpa Suzuki is a total crackpot. The old man jut wants to increase his popularity in his retirement home. When Yoko, a robot-crazy female college student, falls in love with “New Shiokaze,” things really start to go haywire. Director Shinobu Yaguchi has already tacked the musical with Swing Girls and sports with Waterboys. In his newest feature, he shows a sharp sense of selfmockery and surrealism ( some Belgian roots, maybe ? ). With Japanese rock star “Mickey Curtis” as the unbearable old man. If you loved Hitoshi Matsumoto’s Symbol, you’ll dig Robo-G.