Starting with his first film "Donten Seikatsu (Hazy Life)" from 1999, director Nobuhiro Yamashita explored slackerdom, Japan-style, with a laconically knowing eye and a laidback sense of humor. Rejecting the broad approach of so much local comedy, he developed gags from off-beat, spot-on observations and delivered them with impeccable timing.
Abroad, he is best known for "Linda, Linda, Linda" (2005), a comedy about a struggling high school girl band. Korean actress Bae Doo Na charmed as the band's substitute vocalist, while the band's performance of the title rocker was a rousing crowd pleaser.
The film traveled widely on the international festival circuit, including the Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy, for which I served as a program advisor. Yamashita, who came as our guest, enjoyed the film's raucous reception by the Udine audience, but with his neatly trimmed beard and air of a hipster intellectual taking in the scene with a sharp eye and wry smile, he was also a little like the unkempt, clueless heroes of his earlier films.