The most recent full length movie released by Makoto Shinkai... I think in 2007. This story is almost created by the characters rather than a plot that the characters play out. Shinkai uses a very distinct way of relating this story through small, quick changing angles while a personal narrative is laid over the environmental art. This is another post that I will have to mentally mark for revisiting as I know there is alot to say about this movie, but it is hard to describe to those who have not seen it, and even harder without giving away too much of the actual plot.
Setting it apart at the beginning, this is a short movie, approximately an hour or so in length that is broken up into 3 "episodes". Shinkai did this particularly to make the viewer focus on time. The title follows the same tangent being of an awkward measurement. It's not normal speed. Time plays a very large role through out these episodes as it follows the "main" character Takaki Tono. This movie was chanced upon through Youtube jumping, and noticing that the music video I was watching had very... VERY sharp images for an anime series. Needless to say I watched it late (early) that night. This was my introduction to Shinkai as a director. Focusing on a very realistic form of anime, again there are no stereotypical anime figures or body forms. Influence for how the characters are drawn are more like that of manga rather than their tv adaptations. Even so, much like Miyazaki, the way his characters act and appear is familiar to several styles, but belonging to none. The detail that goes into each and every frame this movie is terrifying. Having watched it several times I will always find a new particular part to vomit at how accurately a cold window is drawn, or how water looks coming out of a faucet on an afternoon. I will not go into the water despite I want to. It is so good. The flow between images and animated scenes is perfect. Metal and the environment are done stylistically, and about the closest to super realism that can be achieved with this particular drawing style.
Apart from following Tono through three series of episodes of time, this is very much a relationship story. As mentioned on his main post, Shinkai is a master at this particular genre. The words that are used are perfect. The small emphasis on what is important, and how those small but important things are discussed are without equal as of now. The way a character narrates their own perspective is the main story telling engine, and the greatest part of this movie. Combined with a camera angle approach that probably has more scenes with absolutely no one in them as there are of the main characters and you are left with something adhering strictly towards what this blog is trying to find. Beautiful anime.
Btw, props to the voice actors in both Japanese and American dubs. You can watch this either way and have voices that convey care.
Oh yeah, the sound and composition for this piece rocks socks too. The piano theme that was composed for this movie is inserted seamlessly and often times the use of ambient sounds and foley effects are the best possible thing. Even the silence is artfully manipulated.
No comments:
Post a Comment