Shangri-la

Presumably unwittingly, Miike revives the spirit of Ealing comedy in a 'little man against the-system' movie based on Yuji Aoki's allegedly autobiographical novel about his time in the eponymous squatter camp outside Osaka. A blocked writer (Sano) stumbles into 'Shangri-la' just as the entire ramshackle community rallies behind Umemoto (Tokui), a printer (still using ancient letterpress) ruined when his major client declared bankruptcy in a financial scam. Led by the 'man with a past' known as The Mayor (Aikawa in a fetching frightwig), the squatters turn out to have all the smarts and skills required to take the stock market for a ride and humble the capitalist villain (Maro). Now the writer has a subject for his novel. Wonderfully cast, splendidly paced and a tiny bit sentimental, this packs so much retro-style enjoyment it should probably come with a health warning. Instructive, too.