「ほしのこえ」/movies
Posted on 2003-12-14 by ivo :: /movies :: link
「私は、ここにいるよ」
「ほしのこえ」,
also known as Voices of a distant star, is the
product of Makoto
Shinkai. It is a short anime movie that tells the tale of a
young couple that is torn apart when Mikako enrolls in a UN
mission to Pluto and ends up on Agharta, a planet of Sirius.
Even in this short film, Makoto Shinkai manages to depict the
characters as well formed, complete personalities. The way the
Mikako stays connected with Noboru by sending messages to him is
touching.
I highly recommend this anime to anyone. I watched the fansub by
Shinsen
Subs, and I'm currently waiting for Amazon to deliver
the
DVD to me.
Random thoughts:
- Why does the U.N. enroll 15 year old girls in the army?
- Why do they allow loose objects to lie around in a fighter
unit during combat?
- Why does it take 8 years for an email to reach earth, but only
a few moments for a spaceship to go to Sirius? Surely they must
have found out a way of accelerating the email if they can
transport four entire spaceships over that distance… They
do give a hint on this one: We haven't yet found a way back
to Earth yet. But why they chose to go to Sirius instead
is beyond me.
Dogville/movies
Posted on 2003-10-24 by ivo :: /movies :: link
Dogville, by
Lars von Trier is an interesting movie. It is divided in nine acts
and one prologue, each introduced with a title screen that shows what
will happen in that act.
The main thing about this movie that critics seem to be pointing
out continuously is that the entire movie is shot on a set with
virtually no attributes, except a few desks, beds and cars. I didn't
think it was irritating at all. In fact, it seemed to put emphasis on
the fact that Grace is a newcomer, she can't see through these walls.
The people from Dogville appear to be able to do so, even though this
is not stressed very much.
The entire movie has the feel of a classic movie from the 1920s,
but it is much more vivid, events happen much faster. Despite this,
the movie is still almost three hours long. It was able to keep my
attention throughout all of it.
The scenes are sometimes accompanied by a male voice over,
outlining some of the things that can't be seen. The events displayed
in the second half of the movie are pretty gruesome, but the narrator
keeps the same, slightly cynic tone throughout it all.
The role of Tom Edison isn't entirely clear. I don't know if his
actions were inspired by a cunning plan meant to abuse Grace in all
her vulnerability, or if he acted out of an ignorant naivety, with
nothing but the best intentions that just didn't work out as well as
he had hoped. I'm not sure if Grace saw Tom's real intentions either.
The ending seemed to suggest she did, which would also mean that Tom
was acting out of cruelty more than ignorance.
The end is surprising, to say the least. Von Trier appears to want
to say that anything that happens in or comes out of America is bad.
But if you assume that people really are the same everywhere, he
appears to be disapproving of human nature. During the movie, I was
constantly thinking about which way it would end. I thought of a lot
of possible endings, including the one Von Trier chose. But when it
was over, I was left insatisfied, feeling that the end wasn't
appropriate somehow. On the other hand, I don't think that any of the
other endings I thought of would have been better.
I still feel dissatisfied with it, partially because Von Trier
leaves some things implicit, and I am sure that everybody who goes to
see this movie has his or her own interpretation of what is happening,
what Von Trier tried to tell and whether it applied to all of us, or
just America and its inhabitants.
