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Tekkon Kinkreet

 
 
Seth
22:53 / 11.07.07
I've been following this film for about six months or so in the lead up to its release, and it looks like that's now pretty imminent. It opens in New York and LA on Friday 13th July.

Everything I find out about it makes me more excited to see it. It's an adaptation of a comic by Taiyo Matsumoto and from what little I'm allowing myself to read (spoilerphobic for projects I'm excited about) it seems to set in a grim and grimy inner city environment with supernatural overtones. Two orphans patrol the rooftops of the city defending it from gangsters... and that's about as much as I really want to let myself find out before I plonk myself down in front of it and watch the shit out of it.

The trailers is up to stream from the official site. Even before I saw the trailer I was struck by how beautifully designed it is, how stylised the characters and environment was. When animated it's frankly stunning.

If you're in New York or LA please... let us know what it's like. With clearly marked spoilers!
 
 
De Selby
03:31 / 15.07.07
That trailer looks incredible. Its amazing how creative Japanese animation is compared with the rest of the world.
 
 
Seth
12:57 / 15.07.07
I wouldn't say that (Tekkon Kinkreet is directed by an American dude after all, even if he is working with a Japanese team). It's just that their animation industry is so much huger than that of anywhere else, with so much more expertise and experience over a much longer timeframe. There's a tremendous discipline and attention to detail involved and they have many, many masters churning this stuff out week after week after week. Plus I think studios are so strapped for cash that everyone goes into mind-boggling showcase mode when they get a whiff of budget.
 
 
Seth
10:22 / 17.08.07
I've been trying to find an English subbed torrent of this film for some time, but it looks as though there's actually going to be a UK and US DVD release sometime around 24/25 September. Keep your eyes peeled for torrents in the meantime though, I'll be buuying the DVD but I doubt I can wait.
 
 
praricac
21:51 / 19.08.07
showing at the edinburgh international film festival this friday and saturday (aug 24th & 25th) if anyones interested
 
 
Baroness von Lenska
02:29 / 10.02.08
Bumping this since I caught it at its initial release and loved it. Having already been a fan of Plaid, I'd gone in expecting good only to be surprised with beautiful. As an adaptation of Matsumoto's work, it stands well enough on its own--some of the stranger aspects and flights of surrealism from the comic are worked into the film in a seamless, wonderful way. I'm thinking in particular, for those who've seen it, of the apple and elephant scene in the bath house.

While most of the criticisms I've read are dislikes and hang ups over the visual or audio aesthetics, a few are valid: the pacing is too quick overall. In places this works to the film's advantage (the incredible opening scene) and in others mars noticeably. Interestingly, those scenes that were radically altered from the source material (the opening scene is a mish mash of several scenes that occur over the course of the first two volumes of the comic) work well, while those more or less directly lifted from the comic go by too quickly. Some poignancy is lost in the madcap rush of the pace as huge plot events pass by without giving the audience time to really reflect on what just happened, but to be fair Arias was cramming an entire long running comic series into the space of about two hours. This sort of thing can't be helped, and in the end it's a small thing. It's still a wonderful, gorgeous film and a beautiful story.
 
 
Baroness von Lenska
02:33 / 10.02.08
By the way. I just noticed, this thread doesn't mention that Warp Records' own Plaid scored the movie. All 100% original material with not one single bit of recycling. It's very good in its own right.
 
 
woodenpidgeon
05:38 / 27.02.08
I finally got a chance to see this film, and honestly I was only drawn by the Plaid score. What a suprise. This is really a carefully crafted and beautiful film. It's such a fantasic meld of styles. It did take me watching it twice to really grasp it, but now I can't wait to watch it again.
The style is not traditional but achieves something really interesting. The director mentions in the commentary, City of God is a big influence visually, and it shows laboriously with handheld camera shots, jumpcuts, etc. It's a daring and doesn't bother to pander to a particular audience and this is a good thing.
I have no knowledge of the manga -- so i can't comment on the translation of the source material. If you told me the film is about two kids like cats named Black and White that are symbolic opposites, I'd probably skip it. They manage to meld these into a story that seems to be as much about urbanity, development, and sprawl, as they are with these symbolic opposites.
This is animation that aspires to something much bigger than can be contained in a live action film.
 
 
The Idol Rich
07:53 / 27.02.08
I watched this the other day strangely enough, I say strangely because it's not the kind of thing that I would normally watch and I have no knowledge of the original comic thing, I really can't remember why I put it on my list for lovefilm to be honest.
Anyway, that aside, it looks great, they really get a feel of solidity and depth to the backgrounds, I especially liked that weird surrealist trip when Black meets the Minotaur although that was of course a point where it veered aeway from the style prevalent in the rest of the movie. The music also worked very nicely with the film.
Now for the criticisms; for me the story just didn't seem to quite work properly and because of that I found it impossible to have any real emotional connection with any of the characters which in turn meant that I felt that watching the film was ultimately a fairly unrewarding experience. I would describe the film as impressive but shallow although I'm willing to listen to reasons why I could be wrong (possibly due to my inexperience with this kind of film).
 
 
Baroness von Lenska
07:05 / 29.02.08
Speaking as someone who loves the film, I wouldn't say that's necessarily an inaccurate description, Idol Rich. Part of this is, I think, the transition from comic to film; a lot of time and space has been removed, some spots of it more necessary than others. Time is crucial. The film's pace is, up until the end, very good for capturing the madcap, over the top action-oriented joy, brutal violence and grand cultural stew sense of place of Treasure Town. But it all goes by too quickly for reflection. At times it felt as though characters were saying or doing something only because it was necessary to move the plot forward, and I suspect that's just the case. My memory's probably a little rusty and colored here, but there's a great deal more time stretched between major events in the manga. I seem to recall a whole issue/chapter revolving around the Rat, and another complete episode following the rapidly maddening Black-without-White. There's time enough to see how events connect, and naturally understand characters' relationships.

Some spoilers for both the comic and the film ahoy.
















Last warning!





The bond between Sawada and White was, at least in the comic, very touching to me. Much of the story's depth, in terms of emotion, character development, and general musing, is difficult for me to pin down in a neat, easy to explain way, as any good symbol-rich storytelling should be. It's in that sort of vague-meaning that I found it appropriate for an impotent, naive detective to become something of a father/older brother figure to White. There's a bit in the comic where White's doing his typical loopy rambling as he and Sawada are out on a walk, when he blurts out, "I is missing lots of screws. Head screws. And Black, he's missing lots of screws too--heart screws. But White's got all the screws Black is missing!" That grammatical little train wreck is really the meat of the scene: it explains, fully and finally, the relationship between Black and White in a way that's moving and just a little poetic. The scene is in the film--right up until that point. There are a few other places where the movie doesn't quite include what I felt was the "meat" of the moment. There are a number of scenes in which Sawada and White are simply goofing off, playing with toy cars and rubber arrow guns. None of these moments add anything to the story, but they solidify the eventual bond between the two characters. Nothing is added to the larger narrative, but events that affect the whole work make sense only because of scenes like this.

So if the film felt shallow in a sense, a lot of it's been removed or fast forwarded. Even then, the original story is so idiosyncratic and atypical that I can't really criticize anyone for not enjoying it, or not connecting with the characters or engaging with any of the ideas.

Eh, I think that's enough run on sentencery for one night.
 
 
The Idol Rich
09:42 / 29.02.08
Part of this is, I think, the transition from comic to film; a lot of time and space has been removed, some spots of it more necessary than others

OK, I wondered if that might have been the case. I think that you only have to look at, say, Brokeback Mountain or No Country for Old Men to see that a short book can easily make a long film, so a long book ought to make a very long film and a whole series of books… well, in my opinion it ought to make several films really if you want to capture it properly.
My guess is it helps if you are familiar with the source material because you, possibly unconsciously, fill in the gaps yourself (on reading to the bottom you imply as much yourself in fact).

But it all goes by too quickly for reflection. At times it felt as though characters were saying or doing something only because it was necessary to move the plot forward

Yeah, exactly, it felt a little compressed. Suddenly the characters were being contemplative or sad as if lots of time had passed but for the audience there was no sense of that happening.

I seem to recall a whole issue/chapter revolving around the Rat, and another complete episode following the rapidly maddening Black-without-White.

Those were two exact bits that I had a problem with, Rat seemed to so quickly change from being this evil presence (without any explanation of why) to a wise old good guy that there was nothing to get your teeth into in either role. A shame because I think he could have been the most interesting character.
The Black rejection of White and then descent to madness also happened far too quickly for my liking.

There's a bit in the comic where White's doing his typical loopy rambling as he and Sawada are out on a walk, when he blurts out

You’re right here as well I think, this scene seemed incomplete.
Lots of good points in that post. Maybe I should read the comic thing but I really find graphic novels hard to read.
 
  
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