The Family Game

Japanese parents hire a tutor for their foolish son and get a critic of their lifestyle. A sendup of the stereo-typical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman jerk, unable to relate to anyone; mom is a hopeless housewife; the older son is a moderate academic success; but the younger son is a rebellious goof-off for whom a tutor must be hired. The tutor, played by the prototypical bad-boy actor Matsuda Yusaku, proceeds to blow the entire family apart (Matsuda's role is modeled on the myth of Susano-o no mikoto, the renegade deity who figures in the Kojiki). —David Pollack <pollack@troi.cc.rochester.edu> The typical Japanese family: dad is a salaryman; mom is a housewife; the older son is a moderate academic; while the younger son is a hopeless goof-off for whom a tutor must is hired. The tutor is a bad-boy who proceeds to blow the family apart. One of the major concerns of most Japanese families today is the school entrance examination that children have to go through. Successful admission to a good high school often assures the student of subsequent entry into an 'Ivy League' university. A male tutor was recruited by an ordinary household. The student, whose brother has secured a place at a prestigious high school, changes as a result of the pressure along with other members of his family. —L.H. Wong <as9401k56@ntuvax.ntu.ac.sg>