"The Invention of Dr. Nakamats" humors audiences
Welcome to the eccentric mind of Dr. Nakamats, the inventor behind the floppy disk, the taxicab meter and 3,356 other creations. Directed by Copenhagen-based Kaspar Astrup Schröder, “The Invention of Dr. Nakamats” is a look into the creative world of Dr. Nakamats in the weeks leading up to his 80th birthday, a day he is greatly anticipating.
The quirkiness of Nakamats shines through the film at every moment. The audience laughed often as they watched Nakamats smell cameras before buying them or take a picture of every meal he ate.
“I have never laughed at anyone in the face as much,” Schröder said in the Q&A session after the film. “We shot intensely for 30 days and it was the craziest 30 days of my life.”
Schröder’s ability to entertain and humor the audience is countered during intimate scenes involving Nakamats’ family that demonstrate the inventor’s unrivaled love for his relatives. Early in the film, Nakamats explains many inventors invent for the sake of making money, but he invents out of love, particularly for his mother. Still, those are but short stalls in an otherwise hilarious film.
“The Invention of Dr. Nakamats” is Schröder’s advice to audiences is to always think young, never lose your child-like imagination and, in the words of Nakamats himself, “Nothing is impossible.”
