Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

sawii29 Sakisaka, working as an inspector of comedy script, hardly laughs. One day, he meets a scriptwriter named Tsubaki Hajime. Tsubaki comes to him to get the script checked, then it can be on at his theater. However, Sakisaka doesn't say "ok", he asks him to rewrite and bring it the next day. Tsumaki follows his advice and the two come to make the script more interesting together. But it doesn't last so long. One day, Tsubaki brings a sad news with a great comedy script and then,,,I laughed a lot seeing this movie. Koji Yakusho, acted Sakisaka, is one of the greatest actors in Japan. I'm a big fan of him. Sakisaka is a serious person. He doesn't laugh and dislike comedy, but gradually changes. Yakusho expressed the small change faithfully in the film. And I'm also a fan of Koji Mitani. His movies are always funny and interesting.This movie must make you laugh and give you bravery to keep going what you like to do.

CountZero313 Warai no Daigaku is a comedy with a serious message. Stone-faced WWII censor Koji gives aspiring playwright Goro a run through the ringer as both men trade barbs on their way to unexpected fates. The tempo is brisk, laugh out loud moments aplenty, and the pay-off adds depth to what could easily have been an extended pun session. Koji excels as the authoritarian bureaucrat who lets his guard down to reveal thespian longings. His change from stone-faced oppressor, to collaborator, back to oppressor, is complex and perfectly timed. Unfortunately, Goro is a lightweight who manages not to offend too much by giving a tolerable performance here. His variety TV background carries him through the comedic moments, but when something heavier is called for, he simply isn't up to it. A pity, because this film could have been a classic but for that one moment of miscasting.The simple locations, and rhythmic cutting between interrogation room, street and vaudeville theatre, imbibe the film with a simplicity in terms of pace that belies the gravitas of the themes. Warai no Daigaku never insults the tragic events that it is based upon. The filmmakers manage to get humour out of a situation that, historically, must have been soul- destroying for the individuals involved. Inventively shot, well-acted, convincingly cut, this is a film to watch and go back to.

anandserpi Writing comedy is hard, especially, if you have to face an authoritarian, ex-soldier censor officer who never laughed all his life and was proud of it. That's the premise of this extraordinary movie which is set in Japan during WWII. It is originally a play, so we can hope for tons and tons of witty dialogs between the young playwright and the censor officer. The former is struggling to get approval of his next comedy script while the latter is determined to close down all theater performances in the city, simply because "…it is inappropriate to get a few laughs during this time of war…" Then, suddenly, the movie turns into a lesson of how to write a good comedy as the censor officer keeps criticizing the script and demands changing. There are lots of warm and funny moments, but toward the ending, it suddenly becomes tense and heartbreaking. It almost becomes a tragedy. The whole movie is basically played by those two characters. Other characters can easily be extras. The setting is very minimalist as nearly 80 percent of the movie is located inside the interrogation room. The message we can get from this movie is that there is always comedy inside anybody's life, whether you want it or not. It is no use denying it. Just as it is no use denying not to like this incredible movie once you see it.

mariafefauk It is amazing and rare when a film manages to reach us and surprise us by succeeding our expectations. In my personal experience, THE UNIVERSITY OF LAUGHS is one of such films. What I loved the most about this particular film is how complex issues which throughout history have affected cultural expression can be represented and illustrated in such a fine and simple fashion.Sakisaka, a government official entrusted with creating favorable conditions for the maximum expansion of the ruling ideology, through the censorship and manipulation of messages in popular culture meets his counterpart in a humble theater script writer seeking approval for his latest project. The movie evolves and progresses as both, censor and writer work together, with and against each other to achieve their individual interests.My favorite moment is that in which Hajime Tsubaki becomes aware that his interest and passion for comedy writing, transcends the personal and collective interests of his boss, his colleagues and even his nation. He can live with the criticism and punishment offered to him by friends, peers and society at large but he cannot live without being true to himself, therefore, he is left with no option but to follow his comic nature through his gift of writing. This is the most purely political phase in the film, and it marks the decisive passage of struggle from the individual structure, to the sphere of the complex superstructures.In all, this is a beautiful and clever display of Japanese culture and worldwide struggle for freedom of speech, and a subtle reminder of how far we have come to reach the stage of cultural freedom that many of us enjoy today.