The Invention of Dr. Nakamats (2009)

The film is about the utterly fantastic and eccentric 80-year-old Japanese inventor responsible for 3,357 inventions, including the floppy disk. NakaMats is an unlikely character made for ... See full summary »

Director:

Kaspar Astrup Schröder

Writer:

Kaspar Astrup Schröder

Stars:

Yoshiro Nakamats

Cast

Cast overview:
Yoshiro Nakamats	...	Himself (as Dr. NakaMats)

Storyline

The film is about the utterly fantastic and eccentric 80-year-old Japanese inventor responsible for 3,357 inventions, including the floppy disk. NakaMats is an unlikely character made for the movies, with his deadpan English and impeccable comic timing providing nonstop laughs. About his Love Jet potion, he says: "I've tested more than 10,000 women. Of course, I'm not doing the sex. I'm checking meters." At a conference, he leads a sing-along of a ditty he penned to memorialize the seven hours of snow shoveling he once did to get to a university class. Utterly nutty, but also a paean to the spirit of human invention.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

7 November 2009 (Denmark)

Filming Locations:

Japan

Box Office

Budget:

DKK 1,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Det Danske Filminstitut, Plus Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

57 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

A cleverly cheeky yet respectful analysis of a kooky Japanese "inventor"

I have to totally disagree with paul2001sw-1 about this movie. The protagonist of this documentary is well-known as a self-promoting "inventor" who claims to have created a plethora of everyday devices including the floppy disk (it was actually invented by IBM). He makes NUMEROUS claims in the movie which can be independently verified to be lies. I will not detail them here (as this is a movie review) but suffice it to say you would be wise to Wikipedia a person before writing a review of a movie based on them.

The movie: The people who made this movie clearly know what they are doing. By filming often and by letting the characters fill the silence they have managed to lull their subject into a sense that the movie is being made *because* of his greatness. However, through clever editing of a rich collection of source material, a more honest picture of this shameless self-promoter comes to light. His delusions of grandeur are perhaps what has made him his fortunes, but those delusions have created a man who is so disconnected from reality that you start to feel sorry for him - especially during the scene where his family give him a birthday present, after which he demands the director shoot another take because the first one wasn't to his liking. Thankfully the director has included BOTH takes.

Most definitely an interesting man and interesting subject matter, but not one who deserves to be taken seriously after making so many preposterous false claims. I cannot recommend this documentary enough and suggest that you find the time to watch it.