©Courtesy of Japan Cuts
The compulsions of two hard-living characters reshape the worlds around them in their respective animated shorts. This produces artistic triumph in one case and family tragedy in the other. Yet, Anime fans will be duly impressed by both short films’ artistry and pedigrees. Despite their lengths, Bottle George, from Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi (Oscar-nominated for The Dam Keeper) and Nezumikozo Jirokichi, directed by Rintaro (a longtime fan-favorite thanks to Metropolis and Galaxy Express 999) are definitely highlights at this year’s Japan Cuts.
It is always hard to be a kid, but Chaco’s father makes her childhood unnecessarily painful with his binge drinking in Bottle George (Shorts Program 1). At this point, his body is just a drunken husk, while the symbolic personification of his personality and soul literally floats in a bottle. Somehow, Chaco instinctively recognizes this as the essence of what she loves in her father, so she protects him as best she can. Her big hairball-looking cat is offers little help in this regard—quite the contrary—but she is not the monster in this film.
Co-written by Akihiro Nishino, who adapted the screenplay for the amazing anime feature Poupelle of Chimney Town from his own children’s book, Bottle George addresses serious issues like addiction and childhood trauma with the honesty they demand, but in a way that is still appropriate for young viewers. Essentially, the entire film represents a metaphor for alcoholism, yet it still works as a compelling narrative.
©Courtesy of Japan Cuts
Tsutsumi’s stop-motion animation is remarkably accomplished and the sets and backgrounds are richly crafted. While Poupelle had a pronounced steampunk vibe, the world of Bottle George has a vaguely Old World Mediterranean look. The design of Chaco’s big, frizzy feline should also delight cat-lovers of all ages.
In contrast, great silent auteur Sadao Yamanaka looks a little “haggard,” in a John Ford kind of way when he tardily arrives on the set of his latest epic in Rintaro’s Nezumikozo Jirokichi (Shorts Program 2). Sadly for cineastes, most of his films are considered lost, but many his screenplays still survive. Rintaro’s short partially reconstructs the titular jidaigeki caper in animated form.
Rintaro preserves the silent cinema experience of Yamanaka’s feature by rendering the film-within-the-film in an aptly noir-looking bluish tinted black-and-white and expressing the dialogue through traditional inter-titles. (Technically, Mami Koyama serves as the “narrator,” but in the style of a good audio book reader, expressing emotion, without ever fully assuming character personas.) Frankly, had the original film survived, the dashingly roguish Jirokichi might have been remembered as an equal to Raffles and Irma Vep.
©Courtesy of Japan Cuts
Nezumikozo Jirokichi is a rollicking good time and a lovely tribute to the silent era of movie-making. At a running time of 23-minutes, it is about as long as a vintage Twilight Zone episode, which is more than sufficient to tell a good story. Yet, many anime fans might still wish Rintaro had made a feature-length, page-by-page adaptation of Yamanaka’s screenplay. Based on his short, Yamanaka’s original should go to the top of film detectives’ list of lost films to hunt for, right alongside the Lon Chaney vehicle, London After Midnight.
Tonally, the two shorts lay on opposite ends of the spectrum, but each presents impressively distinctive creative visions. Tsutsumi (who happens to be Hayao Miyazaki’s nephew-in-law) has only begun to produce his own films, but based on The Dam Keeper and Bottle George, his first feature should pack a powerful emotional wallop. In contrast, Rintaro is a recognized master, who still finds fresh inspiration, in this case, by aptly paying tribute to an earlier master. Animation fans should kick themselves if they missed either Bottle George or Nezumikozo Jirokichi, two very highly recommended short film selections at this year’s Japan Cuts.
©Courtesy of Japan Cuts
Grade: A, for both
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