I went to a midnight showing of the 1988 Japanese re-release movie,
Akira, on Saturday night. Late as it was, I was plunged into a feudalistic,
organic Tokyo filled with technological mythology, corruption, and violence.
This is possibly the most visually pleasing films that I have ever
witnessed. The plot is suspenseful and emotional. The musical score matches
each scene perfectly. The composition was beautifully structured. Akira is an
excellent film that will smack you in the raw little brain repeatedly for all
three hours.
My mind spun around the fast action and heavy visual brilliance that the
director, animator, and writer Kasuhiro Otomo wove for me. Otomo began
animation in 1973 and has mastered it to a level that I have never witnessed
before or after. His angles are those of a master photographer. His colors
are rich and explosive. The industrial shots look like arteries and various
other human innards. There are lots of extreme camera tilts or pans that put
you on a nausiating roller-coaster ride.
Set in a jaded, technology saturated Tokyo, Akira is the story of a
government experiment that gets out of hand and threatens to destroy the city
with the energy of human production. A young biker, Tetsuo, loses control of
the super natural powers brought on by government experimentation. Tetsuo
is the experiment. The experiments have awakened the power of Akira, which
lies within all of us. Akira is the power of human action, passion and
motion, all combined in what looks like a bulbous tangle of arteries and
intestines. If Tetsuo's friend Kaneda does not rescue him, the city will be
destroyed by the unharnessed energy of Akira.
The musical score fulfills the sensory feast with crazy Japanese
chanting, Taiko drumming and such. Its riveting and sends shivers up the
spine. Each time the insane escaped experiment Tetsuo is shown, dramatic
orchestral music fills the theatre. Brilliant.
This film is amazing. It's visual accouterments, aided by the score and
the complex implications of technology merging with human evolution power
make it one of the complete pieces of art that have important philosophical
commentary combined with sensory perfection. This film is quite amazing.
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