Satoshi Kon.

Satoshi Kon. Somehow, without even really knowing it, I've now seen everything that he directed. Famed for his dark, humour, incredible visions and intricate stories, his death at age 46 robbed the movie world of a true creative force.

He created deeply detailed worlds, and told stories which blended fantasy with reality, and emphasised the importance of memory in forming opinions. There is also an overlap of some of the characters in the movies, which makes watching them as a coherent whole more interesting (for example, the group of gossiping housewives can be seen in both 'Paranoia Agent', and in 'Tokyo Godfathers,' and there are frequent shout-outs to previous works throughout his movies). Another recurring theme is the love of cinema itself, something obvious in the secondary story of Paprika, and throughout Millenium Actress.

The movies below are fast-paced, interesting, and well-designed and plotted, usually running to less than 90 minutes. The animation, particularly of people running, is a joy, as is the often incredible music. It's no surprise that he's also been very important to Hollywood too: 'Inception' is a more strait-laced version of 'Paprika', while 'Perfect Blue' is, despite what Darren Aranovsky says, a superior version of 'The Black Swan'- superior mainly because it doesn't have Natalie Portman in it.

  Here, I'll take you through the works I've seen, in the order I saw them, using the formula perfected in my Miyazaki movie reviews, a format which is still talked about in hushed awe to this very day. The only difference is that the star system is no longer in place, and instead the final review will be a short guide to how good it was (apparently this is classier than the star system). I'll also try to avoid spoilers, but no promises. Here goes:

Perfect Blue [1997]

This image is from a movie poster shop. I shudder to think who would want this poster leering down on them.  [source]

Plot in One Sentence: The lead singer from a creepy, sexy girl-band leaves to start an acting career, however, things don't go smoothly and she deals with a sense of creeping insanity, and also with stalkers, as reality and fantasy spiral out of control.

Thoughts: Really thrilling, mind-boggling, creepy and at times uncomfortable (the main stalker is a real creeper), and genuinely shocking. The poster above quotes a Hitchcock parallel, but it's more sexually violent than that, though it does have a 'woman in peril' theme in common. A really solid movie which could easily be used as proof that anime isn't for children, and can be used to convey images it would be impossible to use in a live action movie.

Rating: Not comfortable watching, but definitely worth it. Much better than Black Swan, which borrows heavily from this story. 

Paprika [2006]

A lot of things going on in this image [source]

Plot In One Sentence: A machine which can be used to intercept dreams is stolen, and the team behind its creation seeks to recover it, along with their virtual reality ally, the beautiful and enigmatic Paprika.

Thoughts: I had seen this a while before I saw Inception, which turned out to be a huge disappoitment because of it. The Satoshi Kon animation is at its fantastic best here, and that's coupled with the music, which included the theme tune, the most infuriating song ever. I was going to link to a video of it, but don't want to subject you to it unncessarily, oops, I've just reminded myself of it. Still, the story is, in a good way, insane, all of Kon's movies are proof that animation can bring to life things which would never be possible in a live action movie. Stunning animation, although the story peters out a little towards the end. 

Rating: Worth viewing, perhaps several times. 

Millenium Actress [2001]

For such a thoughtful, visually arresting movie, this is a really shitty movie poster.  [source]

Plot In One Sentence: An interviewer and his cameraman go to visit a now elderly actress, who is now reclusive but remains the sweetheart of the nation. She talks about her life and regrets, and about the key which the interviewer hands her, all the while weaving in and out of memories of her career and earlier life.

Thoughts: This is a reasonably straight-forward story by Satoshi standards, it also contains a lot of similar themes from his other works. For example, the sense of loss, the breakdown of family and keeping of resentment over many years, and also that of fanaticism. However, a good movie, and very sad. As well as the main story itself, which deals with lost love and yearning, the movie is also a celebration of the Golden Age of Japanese Cinema, with nodding homages to the works of Ozu, Kurosawa and Mizoguchi clearly visible. I understand that the character is based on Setsuko Hara, the one with the big face from many movies, including 'Late Spring,' which is itself a lovely, poignant movie. Looking online, I am happy to find that she is still alive. Awesome.

Rating: Probably better than Perfect Blue, and although the animation is magnificent, it is a less visually arresting movie than Paprika, but with a better story. Possibly Kon's 'best'?

Paranoia Agent [2004]

The stars of the show sleep in a giant question mark, while that pink thing just sits there, watching you. [source]

Plot In One Sentence: Tokyo is besieged by 'lil' slugger' a roller-blading kid, who whacks people who are in particular moments of stress. We find that all the characters attacked are related in one way or another before the thrilling climax. It turns out that that pink thing above, which is a 'hello Kitty' type icon in the story, plays an important role.

Thoughts: This is an anime show, and spanned, from memory, 12 episodes (Not from memory: 13 episodes). It Started really well, but dragged in the middle and then faded so badly in the middle that I didn't remember it until I looked it up. The first five or so episodes are really excellent, and there are wonderful diversions, such as a trio of people in a suicide pact, who may or may not be ghosts from the very beginning, but on the whole it dragged a little, and the climax was off.

Rating: Visually stunning and a great premise, but faded badly in the second half in particular, despite the great soundtrack.

Tokyo Godfathers [2003]

The three main characters, in all their hideously detailed glory. [source]

Plot In One Sentence: A trio of homelesspeople: a transgender, an alcoholic, and a runaway schoolgirl find a baby and try to return it to its parents on a wintry day, encountering trials, tribulations and their own pasts along the way. 

Thoughts: I left this until last because I had heard it was inferior to his other works. It certainly isn't as intelligent and mind-boggling (a phrase you can't help but use to describe his works) but it had great characterisation and a solid story in a way that, say, Paprika doesn't. The whole notion that the baby they find is a sign of good luck and innocence, and leads to a series of nearly impossible coincidences, didn't rankle me overly. However, it was sad, and it made me miss my family immensley. 

 Rating:  Really good, fascinating, and beautifully drawn, a more straight-forward work than the rest of his canon. 

In conclusion: I'm thinking of watching these in a back to back marathon, what a cool guy I am.

Best wishes everyone, I can't believe it's nearly September!*

*Spend half of my waking life at work, the rest either watching movies or sea-kayaking, so it's no surprise that life is passing me by!

Much love, Pascal

Home-School Kids: Losers.

I was on a train coming back from London. It was packed, and so I grabbed the first seat that I could find. Unfortunately for me, it was next to a family who were, from the conversation, home-schooling their kids. There was the mother, a short haired 'liberal' looking woman, the father, a plain looking guy in a short-sleeved shirt, and the two kids, both boys, one was about 9 with extremely long hair, and the other, a 5 or 6 year old. The first kid seemed shy and lonely, while the younger kid was the noisiest little fucker I've ever heard. Before I left to find a seat in another carriage, they were playing games like 'guess who' at a volume that must have killed people closer to them.

It's the parents fault when they have a brat like that, and they were selfish. Instead of letting the little shit repeat questions four or five times, they should have answered him. Instead of trying to compliment him for the shitty drawings he was doing, they should have told him to be quiet. Instead of encouraging him constantly to be creative (she was a neo-hippy wife, while the father was a silent stooge), they should have given him a book to read. At no point did they say 'there are other people on the train, so you need to stop shouting.' I was half a carriage away and I couldn't listen to music because he was shouting about Johnny English and Nacho Libre (seriously). If this had been in Australia or America they would have been told to shut up, but this was Britain so people endured. They also fed him sugar throughout the trip, so he was extra-boistrous. Again, it's the parents faults for encouraging him: at no point did they tell him to read a book, or draw on his own, everything he did was part of a game, and he was over-stimulated. Again, this is the parents fault.

It's also the parents fault that they are home-schooling their kids and they end up as either noisy or shy. So much of schooling is about social interaction, that kid would never be allowed to be so irritating if he was around other kids his own age, the older one would never have had that hair (well below shoulder-length) because he would get bullied. The fact that they were both complimented the whole way through the trip means that they aren't getting any discipline, which will lead them to be arrogant little shits. Also, how arrogant do you have to be to say, as a parent, 'no one else but I shall educate my children, so I will' - chances are those kids will end up as outcasts, or go on a killing spree. I'm glad I found a seat elsewhere, but I left hating the mother the most, then the annoying kid, then the prick of a father, and then felt sorry for the older kid. I hate them all.

P.S. Was on the train because I was coming back from London where I went to see the Olympics. Despite all of the flag-waving and nationalism it brought in the atmosphere was really good, and it was a blast.