Crab Goalkeeper
{{Infobox film
| name = Crab Goalkeeper
| image =
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| director = Minoru Kawasaki
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| released = {{Film date|2006|05|27}}
| runtime = 92 minutes
| country = Japan
| language = Japanese
| budget =
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{{nihongo|Crab Goalkeeper|かにゴールキーパー|Kani Goalkeeper}} is a 2006 Japanese monster and sports comedy directed by Minoru Kawasaki and starring Hiroshi Fujioka and Naoto Takenaka.{{Cite web |last=ジョルダン |title=かにゴールキーパーの上映スケジュール・映画情報 |url=https://movie.jorudan.co.jp/film/37710/ |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=映画の時間 |language=ja}} The film portrays an oversized crab who plays as a football goal keeper. Kawasaki described it as being "like Forrest Gump, but with a crab."{{Cite web |date=2023-02-22 |title=The bizarre world of Japanese Sea Life Sports movies |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/sea-life-sports-movies/ |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US}}
The film was featured on the BBC documentary 'Japanorama' (episode of 5 October 2006)
Plot
Members of a Japanese football team decide to hire a giant crab to play as goalkeeper.
Cast
Background
Alongside with two other films, The Calamari Wrestler and Monster Seafood War.,{{Cite web |date=2020-08-29 |title=Fantasia 2020 Review: MONSTER SEAFOOD WARS Plays Kaiju Karnage For Laughs |url=https://screenanarchy.com/2020/08/fantasia-2020-review-monster-seafood-wars-plays-kaiju-karnage-for-laughs.html |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=ScreenAnarchy}} Crab Goalkeeper has been noted as an example of one of Kawasaki's signature subgenres: "Sea Life Sports films".
More generally, Kawasaki makes an extensive use of anthropomorphic animal creatures in his films, as in Kabuto-O Beetle or in Executive Koala.
Crab goalkeeper is also considered part of "the voluntary kitsch apparent in Kawasaki's crazy productions".{{Cite book |last=Navarro Remesal |first=Víctor |title=Cine ludens. 50 diálogos entre cine y juego |publisher=Editorial UOC, S.L. |year=2019 |isbn=9788491804147 |language=Spanish}}
Reception
The film was described as "another attempt at dealing with bizarre topics"{{Cite web |title=かにゴールキーパー : 作品情報 |url=https://eiga.com/movie/56522/ |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=映画.com |language=ja}} in Kawasaki's career. Another review, calling the film a "mysterious work", found in this "series of emotional episodes provoking laughter and tears" an exploration of the way an animal can change through their contact with humans.{{Cite web |last=Pia |first=Natasha |title=かにゴールキーパー {{!}} あらすじ・内容・スタッフ・キャスト・作品情報 |url=https://natalie.mu/eiga/film/145447 |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=映画ナタリー |language=ja}}
References
External links
- {{official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20061006055737/http://www.kani-gk.com/}}
- {{IMDb title|tt1076820|Kani Goalkeeper}}
{{Minoru Kawasaki}}
Category:2000s sports comedy films
Category:Films directed by Minoru Kawasaki
Category:Japanese sports comedy films