In Take Masaharu’s We Make Antiques! (2018), a con artist preying on antique traders is himself scammed by a master forger. Rather than take revenge, however, he proposes they join forces.

This Japanese comedy is tremendous fun. It finds an interesting setting, populates it with good characters and actors, and – most importantly – lets the humour evolve naturally from its plot rather than specific jokes or gags. Altogether it is simply a warm, enormously funny and likeable story about petty crime, personal obsessions, and the lower classes getting even with the rich and powerful. It was clearly a hit in Japan, as it has led to multiple sequels. I am not surprised: spending 105 minutes with these characters was an absolute pleasure.

Norio (Nakai Kiichi, who I really enjoyed in Hit Me Anyone One More Time) is an independent dealer who makes a living conning the unwary out of their semi-valuable family heirlooms and then selling them on at a profit to established antique houses. It is an arrangement that, while deeply unscrupulous, manages to pay the bills. When he attempts to cheat a man into selling a valuable 16th century tea bowl, he is himself cheated: the bowl is a fake, sculpted by the talented artist Sasuke (Sasaki Kuranosuke). When Norio chases Sasuke down he discovers an entire team of elderly forgers – each with their own specific talent – as well as the revelation that the same unethical antiques dealer who ruined Norio’s original career also ruined Sasuke’s.

It is, then, an effective set-up for a comedic heist: crafting fake artefacts, spinning stories, inventing characters, and staging a trap purely to extract millions of yen from one’s enemies. It works in very familiar territory, as any fan of Ocean’s 11 and the like will recognise, but it works in a manner that is a little more withdrawn and subtle, much more relaxed, and with a charming host of mildly eccentric characters.

Nakai and Sasaki make for a pleasurable double act: an obvious draw for this to grow from single film to series. Morikawa Aoi is also wonderful as Nakai’s reluctant, somewhat cynical teenage daughter.

The various characters’ obsession with 16th century traditional pottery is not simply funny to watch. It provides a distinctive backdrop to the narrative, and cements it as a specifically Japanese story. While the overall film could easily work in many different contexts, this specific telling keeps a strong, interesting cultural identity. It is a pleasurable film to experience.