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alternative
cinema
Top 3 animated must-sees
Are deliciously vintage anime flicks your cup of tea? Does
dark animation spike your interest? If so, Instep highlights three
of the best vintage, and contemporary animated must-sees ever
made.
By
Sonya Rehman
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Grave
of the Fireflies (1988)
I stumbled across this gem a few weeks ago, whilst searching through
a list of vintage, Japanese anime films online. The DVD shop that
I usually frequent (every other Saturday afternoon), located in the
basement of Raja Centre (a mini paradise I tell you) here in Lahore,
lacks a considerable anime collection (perhaps due to a lack of demand). |
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Therefore,
with fantastic downloading applications such as Limewire, Skype etc,
I thought I'd simply download a few off the net.
So while browsing through an anime list, the name, Grave of the Fireflies
caught my attention and heightened my interest. But instead of downloading
the animated flick, I watched it over Youtube – since it proved
far quicker than downloading…cable internet sucks here, mind
you.
So
what's this particular - late '80s - anime film all about? Set in
Japan during World War II, the story sets its course during the bombing
of Kobe (a pretty, port city in Japan) and tracks the life of two
orphaned siblings – older brother Seita, and his baby sister,
Setsuko.
Originally based on the novel by Akiyuki Nosaka, the author traces
experiences from his own life during the war, the hunger, the hardship,
and the loss of his sister. Therefore,
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Nosaka's
story is sort of like an ode to his sister…making the slice-of-life
Grave of the Fireflies one of the most poignant, and stirring animated
films ever made. Ripe in its depiction of Japanese culture, and the
close-knit relationship between both brother and sister, this film
is gorgeous, albeit, in a rather melancholic way.
If you can't find the DVD in your local video store (pretty sure you
won't), your best bet would be to view Grave of the Fireflies over
Youtube. And even though you may have to watch it in twelve, small
parts, it honestly is worth the time and effort. |
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A
Scanner Darkly (2006)
This animated film's peg seems to be captured quite remarkably when
one of the characters (featured in the film – who hits rock
bottom), says: "What does a scanner see? Into the head? Down
into the heart? Does it see into me, into us? Clearly or darkly? I
hope it sees clearly, because I can't any longer see into myself.
I see only murk. I hope for everyone's sake the scanners do better.
Because if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I do, then I'm cursed
and cursed again. I'll only wind up dead this way, knowing very little,
and getting that little fragment wrong too."
Just as with Grave of the Fireflies - adapted from a novel to an animated
movie, A Scanner Darkly was penned down and published by Philip K.
Dick in 1977, which was later adapted by director, Richard Linklater,
in 2006. |
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Interestingly,
Nosaka's Grave of the Fireflies was a semi-autobiographical novel,
and similarly, Dick's sci-fi book too, maps the author's own experiences;
amid a grave, drab drug culture - and the downward spiral that one
follows due to extensive drug use. But coming back to the animated
movie, A Scanner Darkly boasts of a very interesting cast line-up,
from; Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder and Woody Harrelson.
The treatment of this film, too, is not typically animated…rather,
it was shot "digitally and and then animated using interpolated
rotoscope over the original footage". If you are interested,
then by all means, investigate further!
As fascinating as this animated film's treatment is, the story regarding
how the United States has lost out on the war against drugs in the
future – is even better. Philip K. Dick wrote his novel in the
late '70s – at a time when the use of drugs was at its zenith
– and even though the author sets his story for the future (1994),
the use of drugs today, is so widespread, and considered so 'normal'
that Dick can be considered somewhat of a Nostradamus on his prediction
on drugs and its place in the future of the world.
The story hits close to home – we really have lost out on the
war against drugs. In a country like Pakistan where 'E' tablets are
popped like candy at every turn, the drug trade is a thriving business.
Where drug users continuously seek their next big highs and psychosomatic
mind trips, designer drug manufacturers will continuously produce
DIY hallucinogens to satisfy their massive client-zombie-base.
A Scanner Darkly is as dark as an animated film can get, and surprisingly,
I discovered this one at my local video store. |
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Spirited
Away (2001)
Even though Spirited Away delves more onto the fantasy-animated genres
rather than 'slice of life', this Oscar ward-winning animated flick
definitely has its moments.
And in addition, it seems to be dipped in a rich, magical base of
Japanese lore, culture and folk tales.
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It's cute, it's fuzzy, it's adventurous and it's fun – sort
of like Haruki Murakami's book Kafka on the Shore – minus
the grisly bits!
Following a little girl called Chihiro (the protagonist) on a magical
journey in search of her parents, Chihiro is swept up into a world
of spirits – some good and some bad. Funnily, I always had
this preconceived notion about Japanese anime – growing up
on a visual diet of Walt Disney animations, foreign cartoons used
to always fall short somehow – only because I would tend to
judge the cartoon's lack of finer details (facial expressions, features,
background scenery etc) and consider it far too 'basic'.
But strangely now, I take greater joy in foreign animated movies,
only because the stories are so seasoned in a culture – alien
from my own - that it manages to give the flick that extra dose
of depth.
Spirited Away is a glorious, magical little cartoon for anyone really,
of any age. Hey, my mother loved it – and I bet, you will
too. Your nearest video store is bound to have it.
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