August 25, 2005
Updates: Coming Soon or Already Out in US Theaters
If you live in a major city, then right now you can get your entire East Asian fix in select theaters.
Korea: SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE
The first film in Chan wook Park's Revenge trilogy is currently out in select theaters thanks to Tartan films. They release OLDBOY in theaters a few months back (the second film in the trilogy). The third film, SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE, was only recently released in Korea and Tartan claims they'll be releasing it here by the end of the year. SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE continues to pull in record numbers at the Korean box office partially due to it's popular star Young-ae Lee.
But SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE was the beginning of the trilogy and a great take. While I don't think it's quite as strong as OLDBOY, it is possibly a better look at the nature of revenge.
Japan: KAMIKAZE GIRLS
Although I can't seem to find who is putting this out or exactly when, I have seen posters and trailers in theaters so it's coming. The film centers around an unlikely pair of girls who seem to have little in common except for their interest in dressing up -- one like Little Bo Peep and the other in the 'Rococo' style. The comedy has been relatively well reviewed and looks downright fascinating.
More importantly, this film is scored by Yoko Kanno -- a name familiar to anime fans.
China: The World
Finally, a film by one of the praised 6th Generation of filmmakers from China gets a release here. It's not the first (SUZHOU RIVER is an example) but they are few and far between. This film, by Jia Zhangke, is his first not banned in China. But like most of the films of the 6th Generation, their honest, realistic look at their country has been making an impact at film festivals all over the world -- although not on distributors. This film, set in the Beijing World Theme park, which has replicas of famous places all over the world, is about modernization destroying traditional culture as seen through the eyes of several of the attraction's performers.
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Hong Kong: 2046
While most critics (including this one) agree that this may not be as good as the film it is loosely a sequel to (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE), the images Wong Kar Wai and Christopher Doyle make together are best experienced in a theater. Plus this film is jammed-packed with popular Asian stars. It's been out for a couple weeks now, so catch it quick before it goes away. Although it has been pulling in pretty good audiences for a film of it's size.
And now what you actually came to hear about....
Akira
If you flip through the network channels on Saturday mornings, you'll see any number of Japanese anime shows that have been shipped, cut and dubbed for American children's consumption. The history of this practice is actual quite long. Speed Racer showed in the 60s and Starblazers and Robotech showed in the mid-80s on network television. But never before has it been so all-encompassing as now. Even the shows that aren't imported from Japan seem to be influence by anime.
But it wasn't always this way. 'Anime' was a relatively unknown thing in America -- where people largely believe that cartoons were just for kids -- until the release of AKIRA in 1988. It was America's first real introduction to an anime revolution that would end up being rather mainstream today.
I sure know AKIRA was my first exposure to anime. I had heard about it and when the Sci-Fi channel intended to play it, many years ago, I intended to watch it. Actually I taped it, but returned home in the middle and checked to make sure it was in fact taping. I tuned in at a point when a giant teddy bear started bleeding milk and I knew I was in for something a little different than what I was used to.
Because of AKIRA, stores started popping up carrying this strange confection - anime. Stores that catered to nerds started carrying a few things (dubbed of course, as things largely were in the beginning). And a very loyal pack of fansubbers popped up. People who would send you tapes of anime for free just to spread the interest. Now bookstores have sections devoted to manga and every store that carries DVDs has a section for anime.
For all that AKIRA did to introduce the world to anime, there was also some backlash. Because of the film, anime had a reputation as violent cyberpunk -- a reputation it hasn't entirely been able to shake. Try to show some cutesy anime to someone who doesn't know much of anime and you may be greated with a 'I don't want to watch anime it's too violent' response.
Manga
Manga is, of course, the Japanese word for comic books. AKIRA was first published as manga in Japan in 1982 and ran until 1990, after which, it was released in 6 volumes. A now-defunct division of Marvel (although it sort of made a come back) called Epic published the volumes in color starting in 1988. More recently, Dark Horse has published all 6 volumes in their original black and white splendor.
The director of the film was also the creator of the manga - Katsuhiro Otomo. And when production began he faced a tough problem of compressing 2000 pages into 2 hours. Because of this, the movie is different from the manga in many ways. Additionally, usually when manga becomes a movie or TV show, the readers mostly want to see the action scenes brought to life since they could only see still images of them in the book. So the movie spends a lot of time focusing on events with a lot of motion such as the lengthy motorcycle riding scenes as well as fight scenes and Tetsuo's "transformation" later in the film -- all of which contain little or no dialogue.
Summary
So what's this movie about anyway?
Akira begins with the destruction of Toyko on July 16, 1988 (the day of the film’s release). It then jumps to 31 years after World War III which is 2019 AD in a place called Neo Toyko. The film starts as a story about a bunch of punk kids, lead by a kid named Kaneda, attempting to be a bike gang. In a showdown with their rival gang, the “Clowns”, a member of their team, Tetsuo, is injured when he tries to avoid hitting a kid in the road. Before anyone knows what is going on the military comes in and takes the kid and Tetsuo away. The main military presence is the Colonel who seems to be working with the Doctor to try to possibly create a new “Akira” in this boy they found – Tetsuo. But the executive counsel does not want to put any more money into this Doctor’s program since they are hopelessly clinging to a project to build the Olympic stadium in hopes that it will help their ailing city. Neo Toyko has recently been being bombarded by “the revolution”. The audience is introduced to this revolution through Kaneda’s interest in a girl, Kei, who is evidently a part of it. The revolution is aided by a mysterious traitor who turns out to be a member of the executive counsel. The goal of the revolutionaries seems to be linked to Akira as well, and more immediately the new test subject, Tetsuo. About halfway through the movie when Tetsuo yells – What is this thing called Akira? You are left wondering the same thing.
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It is believed, if not assumed, that Akira caused the destruction of Toyko seen at the opening of the film. He has inspired religious cults although the government seems to want to forget he ever existed if not deny the fact that he did. Yet the Doctor and the Colonel think they've found the new Akira in Tetsuo and push him too far too fast. Akira was number 28, one of the children from a “Kindergarten” who were tested on. We meet numbers 27, 26, and 25 in the film and they play a significant part in solving the Akira mystery.
The film is a viloence-filled supernatural thriller centered on the friendship of Kaneda and Tetsuo as their lives are impacted by the Akira mystery. As the comic is massive, much of it is cut out to create the movie. This causes the movie to, how do you say -- not make sense in many people's opinion. But Akira is more than a complicated and convulted plot, it's an experience. You may not entirely understand what's going on all the time, but you are involved in this journey that Kaneda and Tetsuo take (I doubt they know what's going on either).
Themes & Characterizations
This film has a little bit of everythings: love, friendship, loyalty, betrayal, drug addiction, corruption, unchecked science, militarism, corruption, religious fanaticism, revolution, capitalism, power lust, delinquientism-- the film runs the gamut giving the viewer a lot to think about if they care to. One of the more interesting aspects is that history seems destined to repeat itself (with several of these characters not having learned anything from the past).
But more than anything else, the film is about Tetsuo (even though he's the 'bad guy'). Tetsuo's need to be loved and respected leads to his actions. His thorough characterization makes him sympathetic to the audience. We understand he was always 'the little guy' and who wouldn't be greedy when given power when they've lived Tetsuo's life? Kaneda on the other hand, is the hero, but is a far simpler person -- perhaps a welcome one in this complex universe.But he's a cool kid who doesn't think too much about being cool which is what makes him so. But a lot of people relate to Tetsuo, wanting to be cool, getting a chance to be and screwing it up. In a film where many character's hubris is reaching beyond their human constraints, Kaneda is a character who would never dare nor ever think to do so. His intentions are chasing after a girl and helping his friend. While Hollywood movies always try to tell you to do the impossible, go the extra mile -- AKIRA just might be saying that's too dangerous.
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Production
AKIRA's production included a number of firsts and unheard of practices at the time. Otomo directed the picture himself -- which was unusual for manga creators to be able to do. It was filmed widescreen at 24 fps which was unusual for animated features.It recorded the voices of the actors before animated, something that Disney did, but no one in Japan had done because of the expense. But AKIRA had a record budget. And it needed it to create it's 2,212 shots and 160,000 single pictures -- which was three times a regular animated film at the time. It also utilized 327 colors, 50 of which were created just for the film. It also used some computer generated images in various spots in the film (and this was pre-JURASSIC PARK and T2). Because of the great detail, the animation is still outstanding by today's standards. The film's technical achievements along with the outstanding visual and thematic ideas is what made such an impact back then and is why it continues to be a classic.
Music
The unique music score was composed by the Geinoh Yamashiro Gumi -- who created the music without seeing the film and the finished pieces were eventually edited in.The musical groups used native ethnic instruments and the human voice with computer assistance ahead of it's time. There are lengthy documentary segments on the Special Edition DVD that outline the intensive artistic process that the group went through to create this unusual score -- that really complements the film perfectly.
DVD
Speaking of the Special Edition DVD, what a great gift from anime distributor Pioneer to us anime fans. They restored and remastered the film and added a second disc of extras from the making of the film at great cost (reportedly at least $1 mil). The DVD was released in 2001 and is still available, but those of us who are hardcore fans got the limited edition tin. Nothing says nerd like the AKIRA tin edition.
Live Action Akira?
The Live Action Akira film is a rumor that's come up and gone away a million times in the past 15 years. Sony originally dumped the idea because the film would be too expensive to produce, but yet it kept coming back. Three years ago, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN team of James Robinson and Stephen Norrington were going to write and direct it. As recently as last year, Pitof (CATWOMAN) was rumored to be directing. Let's hope this project stays dead.
Conclusion
Reading about AKIRA just about anywhere you'll see more profuse praise than CITIZEN KANE could ever wish to receive. And there's really two kinds of people on the subject -- those who believe AKIRA deserves all the praise it gets -- and those who don't. Clearly, I think it really does deserve it. The film has stood the test of time so well that the impact it has isn't lessened by watching it now. And while it may not answer all the questions it poses, it is a case where posing them is enough. The hyperkinetic energy, unabashed violence, the biker gangs, the seedy government officials, the hardcore military, superpowered wrinkled children and the landscape of Neo-Tokyo create such a full yet fictional world. AKIRA is a must see for any film or animated fan -- whether you like the film or not, it's become part of a classical canon and pop culture landscape. At the very least the film is 'violent' and 'cool' so will be loved by pre-pubescent boys everywhere for years to come; but fortuantely it has been embraced by many others not only for it's technical achievements and cultural impact but for it's characters and themes as well. Enjoy it on whatever level appeals to you.
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