Metropolis
Review
by : Matt McConnel
Starring:
Yuka Imoto, Kei Kobayashi, Kouki Okada
Written by: Osamu Tezuka (comic), Katsuhiro
Ôtomo (screenplay)
Directed by: Taro Rin
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Osamu Tezuka is considered to be the Walt Disney of Japan.
His works in the field of both animation and comic books have
had a huge impact on what has come to be known as the 'Anime
Invasion'. Writing in the 1950's and 60's Tezuka wanted to
deal with the very real issues that his countrymen had faced
and were facing. A lot of his works dealt with such dire concepts
as fascism, the rise of technology, and even a touch of the
existential. Part homage to Fritz Lang, and part to Tezuka,
the film version of Tezuka's 1950's vintage manga work Metropolis
is an interesting, if at times taxing, examination of themes
that run deep in Japanese manga, anime, and indeed throughout
Western science fiction: Man, machine, oppression, power,
and hope.
The story
begins with the construction of the Ziggurat, a massive edifice
that lords of the city-state of Metropolis. It's made by the
industrialist Red Duke, and from the beginning two plot points
are made evident: 1) The Ziggurat is more than it seems, and
that it is a modern day Tower of Babble. Shift to a Japanese
private investigator and his nephew on the trail of an escaped
mad scientist. This trail leads pair into the heart of Red
Duke's plans for the Ziggurat, nothing short of world domination.
Several memorable characters emerge: Red Duke, the girl Tima,
Red Duke's adopted son Rock, and Kenichi the nephew of the
private investigator.
The animation
is a fine blend of both old and new. The characters look like
they have walked off Tezuka's pages, and would be just as
home in an early Disney piece as they are here. All the humans
appear pudgy, cherubic, but nonetheless very human for it.
The robot designs are equal vintage, and this only adds to
the overall effect of the clash between old and new. The new
is the CG and slick manner in witch the animation is delivered.
While the blending of CG and traditional cell is not a seamless
as something like Ghost in the Shell, the use of CG as a choice
for some backgrounds is a good choice. While the combination
of CG and cell can be mildly jarring at times, both are well
done and at times just stunning.
A word
of caution; the pace of the film is very Japanese. More so
than with quite a lot of Japanese cinema that makes the Pacific
crossing. Some of the cuts and directorial choices don't make
a lot of sense to the Western, or at least American, mind
of how a movie should be. The effect can be disconcerting
if one is not prepared for it, but now that fair warning has
been provided, the masses can see the film in safety.
I can
liken the film to the more recent works of Masamune Shiro,
the author of Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed. Unfortunately,
as with the film version of Ghost, a lot of the nuance and
detail that goes into a multi-volume work is pretty much lost.
While this irks me, it is simply one of those things one must
accept about filmmaking. Two things that really got to me
were the fact there were very obvious cuts to the reel of
film we saw. Two places the cut of the film changes and not
in the smooth and fluid manner that denotes a planned cut.
This means that all of a sudden the children are calling a
robot 'Fifi', and a lot of the back-story surrounding the
revolutionaries that was seemingly about to be revealed is
not. This is countered by some of the just great moments to
the movie. My favorite was when the police robot investigating
an aspect of the case walks towards the gathered mob of revolutionaries;
the robot, revolutionaries all know the outcome of the confrontation,
and even for that it is no less poignant and powerful.
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