| Crab Goalkeeper | |
| Director: | Minoru Kawasaki |
| Runtime: | 92 minutes |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
is a 2006 Japanese monster and sports comedy directed by Minoru Kawasaki and starring Hiroshi Fujioka and Naoto Takenaka.[1] 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."[2]
The film was featured on the BBC documentary 'Japanorama' (episode of 5 October 2006)
Members of a Japanese football team decide to hire a giant crab to play as goalkeeper.
Alongside with two other films, The Calamari Wrestler and Monster Seafood War.,[3] 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".[4]
The film was described as "another attempt at dealing with bizarre topics"[5] 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.[6]