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| nobinobita 274th Post
 
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|  "Re(2):GENIUS PARTY" , posted Mon 18 Feb 15:10
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Hell yeah! Wasn't it a blast? I'm so glad you recommended it, mate. Studio 4 C is awesome, and I loved how hilariously nonchalant Watanabe was...I just dropped by afterwards to say yo and figured it'd be casual just like him, but then on a whim I got a pic with him, how cool.
Aha! I'm glad someone else made it out there. It really was a blast in every sense. Watanabe was awesome, very down to earth. I got to talk with him briefly and take a pic with him too. Nice guy, very soft hands haha.
I also got to meet Koji Morimoto, which was a HUGE deal for me. I sat right behind him in the theater. I did a double take when i saw him.
He didn't speak english (and I don't speak Japanese), but he was kind enough to do a drawing for me in my sketchbook. I saw him again the second night, this time armed with a copy of 0range, and he drew a complete illustration in there for me!
I'm so impressed that these creators are so approachable and friendly. It gives me another level of admiration for them.
Did you go the second night? They played Genius Party Beyond, which was a different set of films, and I liked them even more than the first set. They had some of the most incredible animation and direction I've ever seen. They were just gorgeous, visually, aurally and thematically.
What I loved about all the films is that each one so completely embodied the style of the director. They were so personal without necessarily being autobiographical.
Genius indeed!
I also went to 5cm this morning, which was also astoundingly good looking. I mean, it wasn't just technically impressive, it was really evocative. You could feel the temperature coming off the screen! I've heard some people complain that the stories were a little boring, or melodramatic, but it was a story about young love, you know? It made me feel like being a kid in love for the first time again. I actually cried a little at parts!
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| Maou 1373th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
   
    
   
| "Re(3):GENIUS PARTY" , posted Mon 18 Feb 16:47:
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What I loved about all the films is that each one so completely embodied the style of the director. They were so personal without necessarily being autobiographical.
A very sophisticated take on the directors and their work! I completely agree on that, and it's what made Genius Party such an utter delight. I only saw the first night, but was so completely stoked to have unexpectedly gotten to talk briefly with Watanabe, who I didn't even know would be in attendance, that I don't have any complaints.
So 5cm was good? I saw Shinkai's other works and was really...underwhelmed. "She and Her Cat" was delightful, pretty, and original, but his two subsequent longer films severely disappointed me. Beautiful art, to be sure, and seemingly interesting themes, but both wasted on boring and stupidly complicated sci-fi scenarios. The more simple, honest ideas he took on with "Cat" seemed to be drowned out with unfathomable amounts of clutter.
Which is all to say, what was 5cm like? I wanted to like Shinkai after "She and Her Cat," but instead I just end up smirking every time I see the DVD's hubristic description of him as "the next Miyazaki" or some such nonsense. I really am curious about the film, as I want really this somewhat promising director to find his footing again, preferably by spending more time with people and less with sci-fi jargon.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Mon 18 Feb 16:49] |
| nobinobita 277th Post
Copper Customer
| "Re(1):5cm praise time!!" , posted Tue 19 Feb 16:00
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Yeah, "5cm" is really good. In fact, it's so good I'd dare to say it's the best anime film I've seen in about 5 years's time.
"Byosoukou 5cm" is a slow-paced, slice of life-type movie which focuses on human relationships and the effects that time and distance have over them. In short, it's an accurate depiction of a drama wich happens everyday and, sooner or later we all are destined to be involved with...
5cm really is excellent.
Watching it is like reading a really good short story (I enjoyed it as much as anything from Dubliners or 9 Stories). Beyond the plot and dialogue, the film is rich in subtext conveyed through shot composition and layouts.
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
I really like the conisistent imagery regarding tracks and destiny. The characters fall in love early in life when they have no control over their fate. Their lives are on set tracks, much like trains which are a big part of the movie.
This is established early on when the two are kids and the girl runs across the train track while the boy waits on the other side. As he watches her at the crossroads, one train passes obscuring his view of her. Just before that train finishes passing, another train passes by in the opposite direction. VERY POWERFUL foreshadowing.
Also, when the boy goes to visit the girl and the train is stuck in the snow, he begins to cry a little and there is a panning shot of the train, stuck on the lone track in the middle of nowhere, freezing cold with its wipers on, effectively wiping its eyes. It reminded me of the line from Araby "i saw myself a creature, driven and derided by vanity."
There's also really great imagery with the Cherry Blossons and the falling snow. This cold harsh weather is suddenly transformed into something of quiet and stunning beauty as the snow takes the place of the petals they remember from their youth (i almost wish the characters didn't make that comparisson out loud in the dialogue).
Beyond that though, with the snow=cherry blossoms=love equation, suddenly there is love all around (snow everywhere) and the lovers, walking alone at night make their own tracks, side by side.
I love that duality, that imagery. Love is everywhere like snow, its beautiful, it's a frozen moment in time, but ultimately its also cold and harsh and damn does it hurt.
Oh man, and then there's the image of the space shuttle, drifting alone through the cosmos, the loneliest journey possible. Again, i wish the main character didn't state the meaning of the imagery directly, but even so there's more to it then just that.
It's incredibly important that the main character and the girl that has a crush on him both observe the shuttle together. The shuttle forms this line right down the middle of the screen between them. They will never be together. This is driven home by the jetstream which is depicted as blocking the sunlight from entering the other half of the sky. Close as they are, there's an incredible gulf between the two friends. Beyond that, the space shuttle is a metaphor for both of them. Both of them are destined to go on through life without love, "through the black Amnesias of heaven" (that's right, im a grown heterosexual male quoting Silvia Plath--you wanna fight?).
Sigh, and of course, the space shuttle imagery is driven home further when the girl who likes the main guy (im terrible with names) folds her career path application into a paper plane and throws it into the night sky to be blown wherever the wind takes it.
I RUB IT!!!
It's films like this, with such powerful intent in every corner, in every frame, frame by frame, 24 frames per second (or is that 5cm per second?) that really realize the power of animation.
End of Spoiler
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