Paranoia Pins

At one time the streets of Tokyo may have been littered with these.  I like to think so.

Ten years is a long time in the button business, so these Maromi pins are probably a lot rarer today.

One half of the metaphoric center of Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent, the character is a (n absolutely brilliant) satire on commercial icons.  So there's a meta-satire -I guess that's practically snark -to Maromi merchandise.

Little Slugger (Shonen Bat in Japanese, great name), is the balance to Maromi.

They make any lapel look better.

Show Open

Spent much of the weekend watching Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent.

Not surprisingly, it's a brilliant piece of work. On the level of Twin Peaks or The Decalogue or The Singing Detective in terms of made for TV greatness.

Even the opening is astounding and bears multiple viewings.



The animation itself is simple. It's use and reuse, that's another thing.

I love, in particular, the double exposure of the animation over itself during the character zoom.

The series doesn't have the emotional kick of Paprika or Tokyo Godfathers, the storytelling and intellectual arc may exceed everything else in Satoshi Kon's too small body of work.

Double Feature

I'm no longer surprised when I don't recognize faces from the "animation community" at special screenings of animated films.

Even without representatives from that crowd, the in memorium screenings of Satoshi Kon's "Perfect Blue" and "Paprika" last Wednesday at the Walter Reade Theater were fairly well attended.  Not the sellouts they should have been, but respectable houses.

This postcard which was distributed at a memorial service in Japan was given to the audience.

"Perfect Blue" remains a far from perfect film.  It suffers from poor animation and rookie pacing.  The opening sequence, for instance, is cut languidly when it wants to be upbeat.   The dialogue (mostly overheard phrases) should overlap and construct a more frenetic scene.

Even so, it's a good film.  Exciting mostly for its heady script and general smarts.

"Paprika", though, here is a masterpiece.  It's absolutely heartbreaking that Satoshi Kon was unable to complete another film after this.

There's a remarkably human scene towards the end which stands as one of my favorite moments on film.  The sequence cuts from the "current" with the giants and the robot to the "past" in the elevator/lobby.

Sitting on the floor in the dark, it's a remarkably human moment (recalling the Billy Bragg lyric: "Most important decisions in life are made between two people in bed") and an honest "real" conversation.  The dialogue is direct -"You're fat, slow and sloppy" but at the same time talking around the subject.

The problems of pacing, design and animation evident in "Perfect Blue" are long corrected.  It's really very sad we won't hear more of his voice.

Secondhand News

Turns out we've been using our Twitter feed as a newsline: www.twitter.com/asteriskpix.

Most of it is non-Asterisk animation stuff.  Here are a few stories from the past few days.

BLAKE EDWARDS PASSES 

Blake Edwards, of course, wrote and directed the Pink Panther films.  In what has become a rare show of good faith towards fellow creators, he allowed the copyright of the Pink Panther character to reside with DePatie-Freling.  As a result, an independent studio was able to flourish.

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SATOSHI KON SHOW AT LINCOLN CENTER

Without question  the saddest passing of the year was Satoshi Kon.  It's impossible to quantify the loss to film and animation in particular.

The Walter Reade theater will be showing "Perfect Blue" and "Paprika" on Wednesday, 12/22 at 6:30 and 8:15.

I wish "Tokyo Godfathers" was also showing, but we should be thankful the best venue in Manhattan (one small step up from the MoMA) has smarts enough to commemorate this great artist.

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Coincidental to this screening, my pal Lou Underwood shared this link comparing "Black Swan" to Kon's "Perfect Blue".

I haven't seen Aronofsky's film, but it's just another example of what a great talent was lost to us.

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On an Asterisk note.  The Buddha will begin it's second run on PBS Wednesday 12/22.  All of you who can't make it to "Paprika" should tune in.

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Variety is reporting on a new stop-motion feature on an old idea.  It's news, I guess.

The Illusionist (Satoshi Kon)

Ambivalent on what to write, I thought of posting on a new acquisition for the library -Jerry Beck's The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons.

Instead my gaze caught Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist by Andrew Osmond.  Bugs Bunny can wait.

It's a serious, hard thought, researched book.  The kind you might find on Truffaut or Cassavetes.

Each film is given a detailed recap together with an analysis contextualizing it within the director's work and film/anime as a whole.  Unfortunately, it's now a definitive collection of Satoshi Kon's complete works.

One passage to keep in mind:

Kon's own comments suggest that asking him why he doesn't make live action is like asking a representational painter why he or she doesn't take photographs.

"Drawing is the common denominator for comic books and animation," Kon says.  "I don't know any other way ... When I make films, I cannot think how to do it without drawings." Asked if he would ever move over to live action,  Kon replies, "I never really thought I'd like to make a live action film... It's perhaps very unlikely I will make one."

Satoshi Kon, Dead at 47

The passing of Satoshi Kon is a terrible blow.

He was a film maker and an artist who respected the audiences, respected the technique of animation and pushed what was expected from both.

After 47 years on earth, he's left us with a legacy of engaging, intelligent, and adult films -fulfilling the promise that frame by frame drawing can indeed create transcendent stories.


Here are some past brief thoughts on the passed great.

I Didn't See That Coming

I've been re-watching Satoshi Kon films lately. From one picture to the next he make remarkable jumps -not just as an animation director, but as an artist and writer.

On Sunday at the Dancing for Disney screening at Lincoln Center's Dance on Camera festival I dutifully screened "golden age" Disney shorts, impressed by the technical execution but thoroughly bored by the films themselves.

The worst thing something can be is boring.

Why is "Millennium Actress" compelling when a Goofy "How to..." short is a chore? For all the flair and craft within the Disney product it lacks a fundamental attribute: the ability to surprise.

For all the crappy animation in "Perfect Blue" it's engaging. If being boring is the worst thing possible, one of the best feelings watching a movie is when you think "I didn't see that coming" but remain wholly with the piece.

The Horror! The Horror!

Our friend Steve Kerper forwarded us this trailer which was produced at Laika.






Steve has partnered with the film's producer, Bernie Goldmann on a few projects.

Bernie, who was a producer on "300", initially questioned whether animation was a viable technique for a horror film.

Casting aside the obvious shortcomings of the trailer (the second year Maya student camera work, why are two people sitting in a giant empty space when monsters are hunting them?, how much good will that crowbar do if she's not changing tires?) the question of "appropriate technique" is a good one.

There have been a few feature length animated films to touch on horror. Most notably Satoshi Kon's "Perfect Blue" and the Japanese classic "Vampire Hunter D". The French anthology "Fear of Dark" comes close too. These offer more cerebral scares than the classics of the genre not even approaching the primal fear conjured by "Night of the Living Dead" or "Halloween". Even the psychological terror of films like "Rosemary's Baby" and "Repulsion" is leagues beyond any attempts with animation.

The horror film's power comes from psychology. It comes from the viewer's identification with the actor/character and the subsequent stirring of pity and fear in the viewer.

Animation inherently alienates the viewer from the film -the barriers against that same identification are too high.