For some odd reason, I’ve had a hard time locating a trailer for this movie on teh interwebs. Netflix has a trailer for it, though which you can find here.
Movie: The Great Happiness Space
Director: Jake Clennell
Released: 2006
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan
I find it odd that I have not written a review for an Asian documentary yet, and I would hate to form one’s opinion into thinking that there are no great documentaries worth watching, because this would only be a lie! I recently found myself watching a documentary called the Great Happiness Space that is a film that tries to explain the ideology behind the Japanese host boy. For those who are unaware of this aspect of Japanese culture, a host boy is usually a young man from his late teens to early thirties who entertains women for a living. These men usually work at a bar or night club that women frequent. The job of the host boy is to converse with and entertain their clients in order to keep them at the bar for as long as possible.
Although there is a lot of money to be made in this trade, the life of a host boy is difficult and stressful, because it is a very competitive position. These young men soon find themselves working against each other in order to provide the best services to their female clients to increase their salaries. As the night progresses, they soon find themselves enthralled in their expedition to fulfill their females’ night by making it the best outing they have ever had. Drama is far from dormant in this rather difficult position. Women soon find themselves infatuated with these young men and see themselves as husband material, becoming reoccurring customers in an attempt to buy their love, but do these men see beyond what these women dream for?
The Great Happiness Space is an intriguing documentary that shows a subculture within Japan that I was completely unaware of until seeing this film. The idea of men that entertain women for a fee seemed odd to me at first but after seeing this film, I began to notice the marketability of men selling themselves, which was a strange enough on its own accord. The documentary is well done and shows the positions and feelings of many different host boys at one of the most popular clubs in Osaka. If you are a person who is interested by documentaries, this might be one worth checking out.
