But I’m rambling a bit too long.  Clearly this film is not going to be able to be as effective as the manga or anime.  It does go to show how much of an effect Touch had, when even in 2005 there was still enough interest to make a new film based on it, even if that film has only superficial resemblance to the source.

However, I didn’t think every other aspect of the film, particularly the plot, as as flawless.  It is a good film, don’t get me wrong, but after reading all the praise in the reviews of film critics, I felt a bit underwhelmed after completing it.  The story revolves around a dysfunctional middle class family after the father has lost his job.   So he wanders around the streets, lining up for free food, taking odd jobs, and lying to his family.  Tension build up and he releases it on his family, yelling at his sons in an attempt to keep authority.  Eventually everything goes wrong, each member of the family ends up being flung in completely different directions, each experiencing a “catharsis” of sorts.  Some of these segments are more effective than others.

The questions the film asks, in the end, is about the roles that people play in society.  The adults in the family move along in their ideal visions of what the trajectory of one’s life, as a business or as a housewife, is, and then become confused when their lives are thrown off that path unexpectedly.  The father has worked at a company in the administration department, when one day he is sat down and asked to detail what specific skills he can contribute.  His position can be filled for a quarter of the salary by outsourcing to China.  What does he have that is needed by the company?  He doesn’t have an answer.   And when he looks for a new job, he is asked the same thing.  What can he, a rejected middle-aged businessman, do that would give him an advantage over a younger, fresh graduate?

It’s a well made, subtle film that deserves much of it’s praise, even if I don’t think it’s the masterpiece that many are claiming it to be.

Pixar, in my opinion, shares some similarities with Studio Ghibli – they both put out, rather consistently, well-made films that are miles above the competition. Now, I wouldn’t say that Pixar has ever managed to reach the heights that Ghibli did with Mononoke-hime or Grave of the Fireflies, but all the same, their movies are enjoyable and imaginative without insulting your intelligence. Just like with many Ghibli films, while they may seem like children’s films at first glance, they are universal in their appeal, and try to use animation to come up with some creative concepts instead of just appease kids with flashy colours. Now, with that being said, I’m only going to compare Up! with other Pixar films because nothing really stands up against direct comparison with Ghibli.

My verdict: Up! is a smart and creative film which places itself somewhere in the middle of the Pixar line – not quite as good as Finding Nemo, but better than Cars. The storyline begins with a short prelude of sorts – two young kids meet and become friends based on a shared love for adventure (and desire to go to Paradise Falls in South America). They grow up, marry, have a happy (but childless, against their wish) life. All this is shown as a montage at the beginning. Where the film really begins the bulk of the story is when we see Carl, the young boy with whom we began the film, as an old man, a widower, living alone is his home as construction workers tear up his environment. On the day that he is supposed to be taken to a retirement home, Carl ties balloons to his chimney and both he and his home fly away into the sky, to finally reach Paradise Falls and fulfil the promise he had made with his wife. Oh, and there’s a young ambitious boy who accidentally finds himself a stowaway on this floating house (he had been trying to help Carl in order to earn his final badge for “helping the elderly”).

As you can see, there’s quite a brisk pace in the first moments of the film, but it slows down as it becomes clear that the focus of this story is going to be the trip to reach Paradise Falls. The beginning of the film has a more “adult” slant to it (this is Pixar, after all), but the bulk of film is in more familiar territory for a “children’s film”.  Which, I guess, isn’t a bad thing if you’re a kid.  If you’re an older Pixar fan, it might be disappointing that they’ve succumbed to doing some more obviously childish things (like talking dogs riding airplanes).  One aspect I liked was that although Carl flies to Paradise Falls in his house, he reaches the mountain within minutes – but has to haul his house to the right spot for the remainder of the movie.  A very Pixar-ish thing to do.

So, my opinion is that the film works very well in some areas and less in others.  The beginning of the film is very well-done, but the quality is lost in some of the more action oriented scenes.  Kids will be entranced throughout, but the older fans might not be as captivated during some of the later scenes as they were during Ratatouille or Finding Nemo.

]]> http://omohide.com/613/up-review/feed/ 3 http://omohide.com/559/review-ima-boku-wa-now-i/ http://omohide.com/559/review-ima-boku-wa-now-i/#comments Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:24:21 +0000 Theowne http://omohide.com/?p=559

Ima, Boku wa is a debut film by Yasutomo Chikuma, who also stars in the title role. It revolves around a short period of time in the life of 20-year-old Satoru, a "NEET". NEET is a term originally used in the UK that refers to young men who are Not engaged in Education, Employment or Training. Fans of anime might be more familiar with the term "hikkikomori". To put it bluntly, these are people who are not really engaged in anything productive and leech off their parents who provide them with the money and food to survive.

Ima, Boku wa is a debut film by Yasutomo Chikuma, who also stars in the title role.  It revolves around a short period of time in the life of 20-year-old Satoru, a “NEET”.  NEET is a term originally used in the UK that refers to young men who are Not engaged in Education, Employment or Training.  Fans of anime might be more familiar with the term “hikkikomori”.  To put it bluntly, these are people who are not really engaged in anything productive and leech off their parents who provide them with the money and food to survive.

Satoru lives with his mother in a small apartment, but his life takes place mostly in his room, where he reads manga, plays video games, sleeps, and nothing else.  Occasionally he will go out to the corner store to buy a magazine.  In one early encounter, a former classmate recognizes him and strikes up a conversation, but after being a NEET for so long, Satoru has almost forgotten how to talk with anyone other than his mother.  His life takes a sudden change when his mother finally decides enough is enough and asks a friend of hers to help her son.  So, one day, a man knocks on the door and tells Satoru that his mother asked him to bring Satoru to his wine factory – to work.  Of course, Satoru would prefer to slam the door and return to his reclusive life, but his lack of social ability prevents him from being able to deny the man’s request.  So he awkwardly follows him, awkwardly tries to introduce himself at his new workplace, and awkwardly tries to complete his job.  Eventually, he runs away, unable to adapt to being an environment that isn’t total isolation.

The key word, if you hadn’t noticed, is “awkward”.  It is sad in itself to simply watch Satoru navigate everyday life while being inept at the fundamentals of living.  He lives in a meaningless void – his existence literally has no meaning.  He channels his frustration with his own life at his mother, yelling at her for bothering him and even physically harming her.  When he does this, you feel like reaching into the screen and punching him.  After all, how can a grown man harm his mother this way for trying to help him?  But the next day, he gives his clumsy non-verbal apology – attempting to eat in the hall with his mother for once instead of stuffing himself in his room again.  And then, even though you still find his actions repulsive, you sympathize with him.

I don’t want to spoil the film, so I won’t discuss what happens further on, but don’t expect any great plot twists or details.  The final climax (and ending of the film) is almost astoundingly simple, but it resonates.  Throughout the film you aren’t sure of whether to sympathize or be repulsed by Satoru.  The NEET trend is a fairly significant problem in Japan, but the next bit of information to learn is the causes of Satoru’s behaviour.  With Japan being a notoriously conformist society, which stretches into schools and bullying, it probably begins with another well known problem – students skipping school to escape bullying.  These kids are most likely the same ones who grow up to become the Satorus of the world.

This is a film I recommend greatly.  I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece or life-changing, but it is a very well made, poignant film.  Watch this director, because if this film is any indication, there is a lot of talent waiting to come out.

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The longest poems stretch for pages while the shortest are a few lines, or even syllables.  Yet regardless of the length or verbosity, the effect of a poem and the amount of work which went into making it can be the same.  If we were comparing films to poems, I believe that “Banshun” would be one of the shorter ones, seemingly simplistic and undetailed at first but powerful when reflected upon.  There are no excessive details or overdirection – scenes are kept simple and the story itself isn’t filled with dramatic plot revelations and twists.  Rather, it is filmmaking in it’s purest form – a communication of an story between the director and his audience.’

That story is, as I said, a fundamentally simple one.  A daughter lives with her elderly father, but she has reached the age when most of her generation has married and both she and her father begin to realize that she will eventually have to leave the cozy existence they share now.  While the film focuses on Noriko, the daughter, her father is the second most prominent and well developed character.  Early on he seems to come off as a very simple character, a perpetually pleasant old man, but we can see that beneath his exterior and agreeable nature there lies a character who has his own hesitancies just as Noriko does.

Throughout the film the father appears alongside other characters – his daughter, his sister, his acquaintances, so it is only in the final scene of the film do we finally see him alone and get a glimpse at his true emotions.  After going along with his sister’s push for his daughter’s marriage, after lieing about his own remarriage so that she could be convinced to “do the right thing”, he returns for the first time to an empty house, alone.  It is a quiet, introspective, simple, and one of the saddest movie scenes I have ever watched.

Of course, credit must be given to the actors who give fabulous performances in the major roles.  Unlike many of the sentimental films which we are fed these days, this film does not force any kind of sadness on the audience with the use of melodramatic acting or overbearing effects.  The music is soft and simple, but bittersweet.  Scenes of silence are allowed to exist for long periods of time.  In one scene in particular, Noriko comes to a realization about her father during a Noh theatre performance.  There is no discussion, but the direction and acting does a fine job of communicating what is going through Noriko’s mind.

A point of interest about the film is that although the film is about a possible marriage between Noriko and a suitor, we never see the suitor.  We do not see the wedding ceremony, nor do we get any glimpse of their new married life.  The director has chosen a subject, which is the pressuring of Noriko to leave her father and get married, and he doesn’t distract from this tale with love stories or the like.  The film is about a father and daughter who would ideally be left alone to live a  happy existence, but instead both make their own sacrifices for the sake of adapting to what is”normal”.

A definite reccomendation from me. 

Hōjōki is a short work by Kamo no Chōmei, written in Japan in 1212. It is the account of a man who witnesses several disasters that plague the people of Kyoto. Eventually, he becomes a Buddhist monk, a recluse, and lives his final days alone in a ten-foot hut. Through the story, we see how he becomes disillusioned with society and life – but he concisely sums up the general theme of the book in the opening lines, which have, I believe, become famous in Japanese literature:

Ceaselessly the river flows, and yet the water is never the same, while in the still pools the shifting foam gathers and is gone, never staying for a moment…(Sadler)

This article is not a book review because it is rather silly for me to “review” a classic.  Rather, I wanted to say that there is so much in this book that spoke to me very deeply, from his view of both tragedy and superficiality in society.  Chomei was from a time and place that is very different than my own, yet I think, after finishing this book, that I understand him.  Rather than attempting to describe the book or my reactions further, I will quote from the book itself, translated by Yasuhiko Moriguchi and David Jenkins.

Long before, in the years of Saiko there had bee an earthquake,.  That one even caused the head of the Great Buddha at Todaiji to fall, as well as many other fearful things.

But from all I hear that there was no equal to this quake.

For a while right after, there was talk of the vanities of this world, and people seemed to be rid of the sinfulness in their hearts.  But days and months went by, then years, and no one spoke of it again.

……..

The lowly man, who lives beside the man of power, cannot openly rejoice, even when glad.  And when sorrow becomes intolerable, he never can cry out. His anxious air, his constant fearful trembles, are those of a sparrow near the nest of a hawk.

………

If you conform to the world, it will bind you hand and foot.  If you do not, then it will think you mad.

………

In their friends, people like to see a certain affluence and the ready smile.  They seldom care for warmth and truthfulness.  So why not find your friends in song and nature?

……….

Reality depends upon your mind alone?  If your mind is not at peace, what use are riches?  The grandest hall will never satisfy.

I love my lonely dwelling, this one room hut.  Somtimes I go to the capital, and am aware I look like a begging monk.  But when I return, I pity those who week the dross of the world.

WALL-E is not exactly a convention film. It is new territory even for Pixar, because the main characters in this film do not speak or converse as humans do. So how does a director go about achieving all the usual desires of a director – enchanting the audience, creating sympathetic characters, making the viewers feel compelled as the plot thickens – when the main characters barely speak? It’s a tough sell, but I knew going into the theatre that Andrew Stanton would be able to pull it off.

I’ll refrain from plot summaries since they are so readily available elsewhere, and instead communicate my own response to the film. This is an interesting and delightful movie for both your senses and your mind. The animation is flawless – the detail given to the various movements of the robots, as well as the environments is breathtaking. Through the animation, the artists have also given WALL-E a persona and identity that the audience can easily connect with. Most of this is in the eyes. In fact, both the main characters, WALL-E and Eve, communicate a great deal through their eyes. The amazing thing about the film, which you really only realize on the drive home, is that Andrew Stanton makes you feel compassion, sympathy, and feeling for a mechanical robot that does not speak a word for the entire film. It’s a very remarkable concept, and shows us how brilliant the Pixar team really is.

Technically, as I mentioned, everything is top notch. The sound is brilliant, especially with the nuanced noises emitted by the two main robots. Thomas Newman delivers some of his most inventive work for the score – focusing more on sythetic and rhythmic music to accentuate the movement of the robots. The visuals never cease to be astounding.

WALL-E is another wonderful addition to Pixar’s already fat list of quality films. If you’re a fan already, there’s no question. If you’re not, you will be.

(Contains spoilers for the plot)

Well, after 7 books which spanned a good part of my life until now, Harry Potter has come to an end. I first got into this series, like I’ve mentioned before, on the recommendation of my elementary school teacher (Thanks Ms. Page) and I’ve been a fan of it ever since. Sure, reading Harry Potter now isn’t the same as when I was eleven, but I still like the characters and the universe. And now, the last book has arrived and I read it over the course of the next two days. By this point, I don’t think that JKR will be remembered in the same way that Tolkien will be remembered for his series. However, her series will still be popular because it is a very accessible series (I started reading at eleven, after all), but it also isn’t patronizing. There’s enough in the book to keep it from being strictly for children.

The previous book, Half-Blood Prince was not my favourite in the series. In fact, it was probably my least favourite, for a number of reasons. After reading Order of the Phoenix, I had imagined that the wizarding world, after finally accepting Harry and Dumbledore’s claims about Voldemort, would be in a state of constant alert and danger. And to some extent it was, but I also felt that all the regular Quidditch matches, the fighting over romance and going on dates was a bit out of place. I don’t really know what I expected, but it felt weird to have the school year go on almost like any other when they were in such danger. The romance in the book was a bit stiff and out of place. All the jealous fighting and shooting birds at people just made me think, “Isn’t there a war going on?”. However, the storyline of the book, the look into Tom Riddle’s past, and the scenes with Dumbledore made up for all the rest.

I think that Deathly Hallows is a tremendous improvement over HBP. The romance is thankfully not as in-your-face as HBP, which is in the back seat, and displayed in a subtle manner. The story moves quickly but that makes sense considering that the trio are on the run. Unlike what a lot of people predicted, the trio did not return to Hogwarts for their seventh year. I never assumed they would, because finding all those Horcruxes required a bit of time searching and spending the book at Hogwarts would not have given them that time (unless their was some sort of deus ex machina ending). But halfway through the book, I was wondering how they would find the remaining Horcruxes plus the newly introduced Deathly Hallows in the remaining portion of the book, but I have to hand it to JKR. Her writing never seemed rushed and for the most part, it flowed naturally. Even though she actually introduced a pretty big idea into the final book (which were the three items of the Deathly Hallows), the book still managed to feel natural until the end.

I do have some complaints though. For one thing, I thought the Epilogue could have been more than it was. I know that it was supposed to show Harry finally getting what he wants, which was a family, but I also think there is so much ideas about the wizarding world, about the four-house system at Hogwarts, about treatment of Muggle-borns, etc, that didn’t get explored. Even after all that talk about Sorting too soon, and whether the four-house system is a benefit or a curse, it doesn’t seem like anything changed. We also only learned about the fate of one character, Neville Longbottom, who became a professor. The Epilogue didn’t really tell us about anything else except that the trio now have families, and Harry named his kid Albus Severus (which a lot of people hate, I don’t really mind it). Also, the climax of the book, though it was exciting to read at first, was kind of a let-down when I think about it. There had been so many wild predictions about the locked room at the Department of Mysteries, or about the connection with Lily and Harry, etc., that turned out to be wrong, basically because Harry won on a technicality about an object we had never discussed prior to this book (The Elder Wand). It just felt like the interaction between Voldemort and Harry was too brief considering the entire series has led up to it.

But without being repetitive, I think that the Deathly Hallows is a suitable final book in the series. It’s easy to look at it and say that it could have been better and point out various scenes as examples. On the whole, however, JKR succeeding in writing a compelling finish to the Harry Potter story, and I can’t wait for that encyclopedia that she is promising.

So now that the series is over, Prisoner of Azkaban is still my favourite book in the series and Half-Blood Prince is still my least favourite. The rest, however, are all good books, and since I like many others, have practically grown up with the series, I predict that I won’t forget about it for a long while.