So... I decided to indulge myself in playing poker and watching films yesterday. I left the house to pop down to HMV to buy two movies. I ended up buying the French 'Tell No One', which I haven't seen yet, and the Japanese Casshern. Now, when I bought it I thought it was Korean, Ludvico scalded me for not looking into films before buying them when I told him this (He's a huge film buff and knows way more than me)! Had I known it was Japanese, I probably wouldn't have bought it... Why? Well, two reasons, firstly, I know that they are big on anime, and I'm not really an anime fan, I never took to Dragonball when it was huge in Portugal, and haven't watched the anime Hellboy cartoons, even though I really like Hellboy. And secondly, well, I know how utterly intense the Japanese can be when it comes to filmmaking. I never forgot the scene in Battle Royale where the two girls are standing on the mountain trying to bring an end to the fighting, and Shinji Mimura's boys shoot them in the back. The way it's portrayed is too realistic, and when compared to something like The A-Team (The original series, not the forthcoming film by Singleton), seems almost devastatingly upsetting. However, I'm very glad I bought and watched the movie, it brought a tear to my eye three times, especially when Tetsuya picked up the baby on the street, as his father went to answer the phone, revealing the photo he was absent from owing to his disagreement with his son over joining the army on his desk, to be told he had died, all to sound of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. It was beautiful... I think Kazuaki Kiryia did amazingly well with his debut film, somehow creating something of a cross between Rod
riguez's Sin City, and Nolan's The Dark Knight, all while creating the same delicate balance between aesthetics and technology you'll find in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. And somehow, bringing an element of anime into it all, and hiding room for thought into the whole thing... Kiryia wrote this, edited it, directed it and did most of his own cinematography (filming), Welles and Tolkien resurrected in one. A very high 8/10. I'm looking forward to Geomon already. And quite frankly, even feel as though I could look forward to the Dragonball movie if Kiryia was making it, as opposed to the Final Destination and The One director, who just strikes me as the Wong person for this... (Is that joke racist? I'm sorry!) I just think a Hong Kong director can properly pull of a movie based on a Japanese manga series. (Not that HK Cinema isn't great, it is...) It will just lose that Japanese 'magic'. Though when you take into consideration that it may well be aimed at a younger audience, maybe that's not a bad thing. Besides, they got a gringo playing Son Goku
So... I decided to indulge myself in playing poker and watching films yesterday. I left the house to pop down to HMV to buy two movies. I ended up buying the French 'Tell No One', which I haven't seen yet, and the Japanese Casshern. Now, when I bought it I thought it was Korean, Ludvico scalded me for not looking into films before buying them when I told him this (He's a huge film buff and knows way more than me)! Had I known it was Japanese, I probably wouldn't have bought it... Why? Well, two reasons, firstly, I know that they are big on anime, and I'm not really an anime fan, I never took to Dragonball when it was huge in Portugal, and haven't watched the anime Hellboy cartoons, even though I really like Hellboy. And secondly, well, I know how utterly intense the Japanese can be when it comes to filmmaking. I never forgot the scene in Battle Royale where the two girls are standing on the mountain trying to bring an end to the fighting, and Shinji Mimura's boys shoot them in the back. The way it's portrayed is too realistic, and when compared to something like The A-Team (The original series, not the forthcoming film by Singleton), seems almost devastatingly upsetting. However, I'm very glad I bought and watched the movie, it brought a tear to my eye three times, especially when Tetsuya picked up the baby on the street, as his father went to answer the phone, revealing the photo he was absent from owing to his disagreement with his son over joining the army on his desk, to be told he had died, all to sound of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. It was beautiful... I think Kazuaki Kiryia did amazingly well with his debut film, somehow creating something of a cross between Rod
riguez's Sin City, and Nolan's The Dark Knight, all while creating the same delicate balance between aesthetics and technology you'll find in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. And somehow, bringing an element of anime into it all, and hiding room for thought into the whole thing... Kiryia wrote this, edited it, directed it and did most of his own cinematography (filming), Welles and Tolkien resurrected in one. A very high 8/10. I'm looking forward to Geomon already. And quite frankly, even feel as though I could look forward to the Dragonball movie if Kiryia was making it, as opposed to the Final Destination and The One director, who just strikes me as the Wong person for this... (Is that joke racist? I'm sorry!) I just think a Hong Kong director can properly pull of a movie based on a Japanese manga series. (Not that HK Cinema isn't great, it is...) It will just lose that Japanese 'magic'. Though when you take into consideration that it may well be aimed at a younger audience, maybe that's not a bad thing. Besides, they got a gringo playing Son Goku
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