ryuganji: film news from japan

If “The Sky Crawlers” is really Oshii Mamoru’s stab at making something more accessible and commercial than the challengingly dense and philosophical films we’ve come to expect from him, then he really needs to get out more. For better and for worse, with an emphasis on the latter, it doesn’t stray far from his comfort zone at all.

Europe is at war as corporations vie for territorial dominance in aerial battles, employing eternally young fighter pilots called Killdore to engage the opposition while the detached and unaffected general populace keeps score via television. A new recruit named Kannami immediately impresses his teammates with his deadly proficiency but grows increasingly distracted in seeking the truth about the fate of his predecessor, which has something to do with his aloof commander and former ace pilot Kusanagi.

Instead of delivering yet another anti-war message, Oshii unashamedly depicts the mechanical carnage with his typically meticulous attention to detail and to great aeshetic result, while the considerably less engaging characters struggle with the more personal (or perhaps self-absorbed) dilemmas of their own im/mortality and the meaning of life. It’s this gap between the exhilarating technical mastery displayed in the all-too-brief battle scenes and the cold, gravely serious interaction on the ground comprising the bulk of the film’s running time that lets it down the most. The photorealistic CG dogfights are visually breathtaking, but it’s the equally detailed audio design by Skywalker Sound that truly puts you in the thick of the action. Screaming engines and stuttering cannons rip through the air, then the scene switches to within the cockpit and we experience the pilots’ respirator-assisted breathing and the muffled explosions outside the canopy. Even after the camera returns to earth, every rustle of the uniforms and creak of the furniture is imbued with life. Some fine performances by Kase Ryo as Kannami, Tanihara Shosuke as fellow pilot Tokino and especially Kikuchi Rinko as Kusanagi help breathe some much-needed humanity into their less than vibrant animated surrogates, but unfortunately the script largely confines them (and consequently the audience) to an interminable sequence of gloomy conversations and underwhelming revelations. Then there’s the gratituitous chain smoking, ostensibly used as a motif for the Killdore’s disillusionment with their immortality but might just as well be to give the doll-eyed stony faces something to do as they gaze blankly into space. Somewhat fittingly, due to the protagonists being perpetual teenagers, it makes the film look all the more ‘emo’.

Oshii been quoted as saying he’ll quit directing if this doesn’t succeed at the box office, but after opening in 7th well below the chart-topping trio of Ponyo, Pokemon and Naruto, he could have done worse.

A teaser for Kiriya Kazuaki’s follow-up to “Casshern” has just gone up on its official site, although it contains no footage from the film and is instead comprised only of actors’ names flashing by at near-subliminal speed. I stopped blinking for its duration to write them all down:

Eguchi Yosuke
Osawa Takao
Hirosue Ryoko
Gori (half of Okinawan comedy duo Garage Sale)
Kaname Jun
Tamayama Tetsuji
Choi Hong-man (gigantic South Korean K-1 fighter)
Sato Eriko
Toda Erika
Tsuruta Mayu
Ryo
Fujisawa Ema
Sada Mayumi
Fukuda Mayuko
Nakamura Hashinosuke
Kohinata Fumiyo
Terajima Susumu
Hira Mikijiro
Ibu Masato
Okuda Eiji

The concept of a terminal disease tearjerker starring Eikura Nana and Eita sounds tailor-made for the small screen rather than a theatrical feature, but will Hiroki Ryuichi’s directing talents be enough to prevent it from becoming just another hankie wetter? “Yomei Ikkagetsu no Hanayome” (bride with one month left to live) takes its story from a TV documentary broadcast on TBS last year that followed Nagashima Chie, a young woman battling with breast cancer (pictured above with her husband Akasu Taro). Filming begins in October with a view to a release in May next year around the third anniversary of Chie’s death.

“20th Century Boys” now has its Kanna: Taira Airi, a 23-year-old former idol who had two previous cracks at stardom without leaving much of an impression (pics here). As the niece of the story’s main protagonist Kenji (played by Karasawa Toshiaki), the character is introduced as an infant in the first film and later takes on a pivotal role as a teenager in the second and third instalments in the trilogy. At the very least, Taira is close enough of a match to creator Urasawa Naoki’s original design.

I finished reading the manga a month or so ago, and it’s an engrossing but bloated read with an intriguing plot that ultimately leaves a lot of questions unanswered, in much the same style as U.S. TV series “Lost”. Tsutsumi Yukihiko, a director known more for flashy visual gimmicks than convincing dramaturgy, and the screenwriting team that includes two TV specialists as well as Urasawa himself and his collaborator Nagasaki Takashi, are suspect choices for making sense of the sprawling narrative and convoluted 50-year timeline that constantly jumps back and forth, not to mention keeping track of its huge ensemble of characters. The casting of comedians familiar from the boob tube in the numerous bit parts (and also gourmand funnyman Ishizuka Hidehiko in the major role of Maruo) raises further doubts about the filmmakers’ priorities, but despite some other dubious choices (such as Karasawa being a bit too good-looking to play Kenji and Yusuke Santamaria clearly miscast as the pitiful Sadakiyo), there are also plenty of perfect matches including Toyokawa Etsushi as tough guy Occho and Kagawa Teruyuki as reluctant resistance leader Yoshitsune. This is an all-star cast comparable to that of a Mitani Koki extravaganza, so box office expectations will be through the roof. Just don’t be surprised if the potential of the source material is squandered by the familiar TV-influenced school of thought that manga adaptations have to be turgid, hysterical gurn-fests.

http://www.tounankadobeya.com/trailer/index.html

Thanks to Kevin at Nippon Cinema for pointing this out.