Sitges 2007: the aftermath; animation. (volume 3 of 4)

Oh my God, I almost forgot the Sitges Festival of Cinema!!!! I must admit that I've been a little busy this last month, but there are 2 volumes left for this year's festival :)

So, I restart the chronicles with the third volume, dedicated to the animation films. It's true that I love anime films (that is, japanese animation films), but this time, in this year, there has been a surprise: I also viewed a non-japanese animation film :D:D woooooooooooow, incredible!!!! XD

The animated film that has the honour of not being a japanese animation movie is a spanish production one (directed by two men, one of them is catalan :P) called Nocturna; however, the other 4 films are japanese mwaaaahahahaha


* Chapter 1. The occident flaires invade Japan.

Well, with this first chatpter I will aboard two japanese movies , very different one of each other, but (at least in my opinion, although I received disagrees XD), but each one with a certain occidental touch, concretely, an american touch (understanding american as the gentilice of United States, not the continental inhabitants).

The first one, Tekkonkinkreet (let's go: what person can pronounce correctly that film title at the first time? XD), a japanese production but directed by Michael Arias, who, although he is british, he has worked in Dreamworks' productions like The Prince of Egypt and Road to El Dorado. A great movie, an efficient and romantic vision of the ying/yang conflict. That is, the oriental philosophy based in the theory of dualism: the two opposite forces within everything: light and dark, life and death, sound and silence...

The story features two children, called Black and White (Kuro and Shiro in japanese), a clear reference of ying/yang, and two of both are orphans. As long as Shiro, the most little child, is a pure and innocent spirit, Kuro is more visceral, more conflictive and very violent, but always to defend Shiro. They two live in a city ironically called Treasure where corruption and violence and survival are the usual modus vivendi for the population. But with the appearence of Kiddy Kastle, a terrible yakuza clan, will start the apocalypsis of Treasure City.

In my humble opinion, a masterpice of animation, mixing the most modern 3D techniques for the scenarios with the most traditional animation for the characters, with a philosophical argument that motive the audience and don't disappoint anybody. A must-view, with no doubt.

The other film is Vexille, the last japanese experience with the most complex rendering techniques, achieving a level of quality equal, o even greater, than Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (because Vexille has more dynamic physics simulation instead of imaginative and surrealist kinetics on the SquareEnix production). With this superb visualization (although the inherent coldness of computer animation isn't avoided yet), the story that is presented is a cocktail of a lot of sci-fi previous cyberpunk films, like Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, and even Matrix and Dune.


In the year 2077, the artificial intelligence has been banned from all the robothic technology by the UN because of its potential threat to humankind. However, Japan, the mundial leader vendor of robotic technology in the past, has been involved in an autarchy, and doesn't permit the entering to anybody. Besides, Japan is suspicious of illegal robothical activity and manufacturing, and a few troops of a special squadron have the mission of discovering what's happening in Japan. The starting point is interesting but loses interest as long as the movie goes... the final part, with similarities of Dune, seems to appear for showing the amazing computer animation instead of signing a good final for the movie; however, I don't think it's a bad film. Quite good one, I enjoy the film so much; I must thank Elia for talking me about the movie in the breakfast encounter hehehe :)

Here you can see the official third trailer of Vexille; here you can admire the perfect simulation, the bautiful computer animation, and the special effects including a handpainting-style for the characters (to simulate a traditional manufacturation):

But, where is the film connection ith the occident? So, it's in the music!!!! The original score is done by Paul Oakenfold, composer of electronic music and one of the most famous DJ's in the world, and has participated in the musical composition of movies like Operation Swordfish (co-authoring with Christopher Young), Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. Great electronic music, really perfect for the scenes... good job!!!!


* Chapter 2. The Legacy of Miyazaki.

Hayao Miyazaki, the genius of anime, is considered a God in Japan; and I understand why: Princess Mononoke, Laputa a Castle in the SKy or Chihiro's Journey are authentic masterpieces of animation film genre, with the magical and typical drawing style of Studio Ghibli, and the incredible soundtracks of Joe Hisaishi over these images... wooooooooooow...

Because of that, it's inevitable taking as inspiration the romantic worlds of Miyazaki Sensei. And in this chapter, I will talk you about three films that have some Miyazaki inspirations, with more or less quality...

The first one is Gedo Senki, or better known as Tales of Earthsea, the Studio Ghibli film based in Ursula LeGuin's famous saga of books. Directed by Goro Miyazaki, the son of Hayao, is a quite rare movie. Only saying that the best factor on the movie is the incredible soundtrack composed by Tamiya Terashima (with Carlos Núñez performing amazingly the pipes and whistles!!!!), I think there's a clear impression of the strange atmosfear involving this animation film.


Goro Miyazaki is a novel director (it is his first movie!), and I understand it... so, I would accept the low rythm of the action, the strange argument line, and even the plane psychics of the main characters (although the two adult main characters are really really great!!)... but I cannot accept the style of the movie!!! It's a bad copy of Hayao art capabilities, there isn't a Goro firm, only a Hayao style with a lot of mistakes and shallow scenes. And I cannot be agree with this decision. If the film idea was that, why Hayao was kicked off of the project? I simply don't understand...

But let's go with more happy films!!! The Miyazaki effect has permitted the creation of good movies this last two years, and two goo examples are Nocturna, an actual spanish production, and Brave Story, a japanese animation film of 2006.

The first one, Nocturna, is a beauty spanish production about a parallel world that appears when the night falls over the real world, called Nocturna. In this dark environment, only lit by the stars and the streetlights, the fears of children and the humankind are summoned. The sotory begins when Tim, an orphan child living in an orphanage, discover that his star has disappeared. Then, he will gather all the courage he is capable and will begin a crusade through Nocturna to solve a terrible problem: all the stars are disappearing.

Tim, in his major adventure, will have the collaboration of misterious creatures (in example, the help of Murray, an i-don't-want-to-say-what's-it that does the same role as the Kodamas in Princess Mononoke), but he will also meet evil beings between the shadows. Maybe it's too much in children's fashion, but it's undeniable that the movie is good. if you have sons, or nephews, it's a good chance for going to the cinema with them :) Trust in me: it's a very pleasant movie :P

And the last one, but not less important, is Brave Story, a romantic (not in love meaning but in the beautiful one) and imaginative movie about a 10-year-old boy with a mom in a terrrible illness (besides, his dad leaved home), that discovers (with the help of a misterious new boy that arrived to the school in these days) a parallel world called Vision, where he begins the quest for the Goddess of Destiny that can concede his wish: heal his mother.


It's not a masterpiece of the genre, but it is a good movie in all the factors: style, action, music, characters, innocence... if you are a fan of Miyazaki, you will love this movie, but you won't be surprised with it, because it gathers almost of the Miyazaki worlds: fantastic beings, pureness of the spirit, a hidded and major dilemma than the main one. A good movie, you have to see it if you love Hayao Miyazaki movies :)


And well, that's all for now!! :) I've resumed all the animation films I saw in Sitges this year 2007. There only one volume left, the one about the experimental movies, like Takeshi Kitano's one or the new movie by Takashi Miike, the most geek director in Japan (even more than Kitano!!!)

See you poor mortals, and stay tuned on Ignis Lacrima!!!