Movie Reviews: Date Archives
May 2007
Haibane Renmei
by Tomokazu Tokoro
To this day, I still don’t really know why I picked up the first disc of Haibane Renmei when I saw it sitting there in the store. I don’t recall ever hearing much about it beforehand, and a quick glance at the synopsis would probably have done nothing to really pique my curiosity. Perhaps it was the moody, ethereal artwork on the cover, or that Yoshitoshi ABe’s name appeared in the credits.
Whatever the reason, though, I did pick it up and subsequently found myself enthralled by the series’ world, almost from the first moment. And to this day, Haibane Renmei remains one of the most unique, thought-provoking, and affecting anime series I’ve seen.
Haibane Renmei‘s greatest strength lies in its ambiguity. Now, much of anime loves to toy with ambiguity and engimatic elements, be it through shadowy character motivations, obscure philosophical/religious/cultural references and discussions, or half-explained technological deus ex machina. But oftentimes, these simply feel like attempts to instill more depth, substance, and style to a series than it really needs, demands, or supports. And so when all is said and done, the weaknesses only become more glaring, and the series more frustrating and underwhelming than anything else.
This is most happily not the case with Haibane Renmei.
A State Of Mind
by Daniel Gordon
Though many folks probably see films as mindless entertainment, as things to experience once you’ve shut off your brain and begun eating handfuls of popcorn, films have an ability that is unique among all artforms. That is, they can allow us to enter and experience lives, circumstances, and cultures in a way that music, poetry, or sculpture cannot. Films can plop folks landlocked in the middle of America smack dab in the middle of a foreign land to see sights and hear sounds would otherwise remain distant and unknown.
This has been the theme, for the past few months anyways, of the movie discussion group that I lead. And the goal was to see how movies might actually elicit understanding and even compassion, rather than serve as mere escapist entertainment.
As such, it makes sense that the final film we watched was 2004’s A State Of Mind. This fabulous and fascinating British documentary peels back some of the secrecy that surrounds North Korea, and is probably the closest that any of us will ever come to seeing the citizens of that most isolated country.
There are probably few countries as vilified as North Korea, and this due to a litany of factors: a brutal and oppressive regime; strict isolationistic policies; staunch defiance of international regulations; extremely poor human rights records; and the incredibly poor conditions in which many of its citizens live; to name but a few. Not surprising, I suppose, for a country that many folks have placed on an “Axis Of Evil.”
However, as I’ve watched A State Of Mind, I’ve found myself growing increasingly uncomfortable with the strong rhetoric that often surrounds North Korea, rhetoric that originates from both within and without its borders.