Pom Poko
3/4
Starring (voices): Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Tress MacNeille, Andre Stojka, Clancy Brown, J.K. Simmons, Maurice Lamarche
Rated PG for Violence, Scary Images and Thematic Elements
Of the two titans behind Studio Ghibli, the late Isao Takahata could be given the label as the more ambitious of the two. While it's totally unfair to label Hayao Miyazaki as risk-averse, he has his own style that he rarely strays from. Takahata is less successful but pushes animation and filmmaking in directions that not even Miyazaki would go. This is the man who made the perceptive "Only Yesterday" and the devastating "Grave of the Fireflies." "Pom Poko" isn't in that league, but it has its own pleasures.
In the early 90s, Japan was in the middle of an economic boom. The forests of Tama Hills are being bulldozed to make room for the New Tama housing development. But the deforestation threatens the tanuki (Japanese racoons) who live there, so they decide to form a five-year plan to fight back. This includes using their skills of transformation to deceive the humans and wreck havoc. But the tanuki are lazy and easily distracted, which causes problems.
The film's structure is its biggest success. It's constructed like a nature documentary, complete with an emotionless narrator, and at the beginning, an "interview." Voice actor Maurice LeMarche isn't David Attenborough, but he adds a slight sarcastic spin to his delivery that makes it consistently amusing. Talking about lazy racoons and shape shifting in the same way as a documentary on roads makes the whole thing bitingly satirical.
Unfortunately, this style presents the film's biggest drawback. It makes the viewer watch the story unfold at a distance, which makes it difficult to care about the characters or their problems. Character development is spotty, which is further hampered by the fact that there are too many of them to keep track of. Only a few stick out, like the hot-headed Gonta (Brown), the motherly Oroku (MacNeille) and the idealistic Shhokichi (Thomas). The voice acting is solid, but this is not an A-list effort like something that Disney would make (although the House of Mouse did distribute this film).
"Pom Poko" never stops evolving, which is both good and bad. The film is never boring or predictable, and it keeps in with the style of a documentary. But there's a sense that the film is trying to hold itself together. A good movie has confidence in its story and style all the way through. This one does not.
If Hayao Miyazaki were an dreamer, then Isao Takahata would be realist. "Only Yesterday" took a frank look at real life while "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" had a resolution that could only be described as bittersweet. "Grave of the Fireflies" devastated viewers because it never flinched in its look at the true cost of war. "Pom Poko" is neither realistic nor devastating, but Takahata's philosophy is impossible to deny. He feels that as devastating as change can be, we must accept it and learn to adapt.
Recommending "Pom Poko" is difficult. It's too long, the storytelling lacks confidence, and keeps viewers at a distance. But at the same time, Takahata tells his story with no safety net. He never sticks to established conventions or formulas. Plus the film has a brilliant satirical structure and raises intriguing philosophical issues. So I say it's worth making time for.
Starring (voices): Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Tress MacNeille, Andre Stojka, Clancy Brown, J.K. Simmons, Maurice Lamarche
Rated PG for Violence, Scary Images and Thematic Elements
Of the two titans behind Studio Ghibli, the late Isao Takahata could be given the label as the more ambitious of the two. While it's totally unfair to label Hayao Miyazaki as risk-averse, he has his own style that he rarely strays from. Takahata is less successful but pushes animation and filmmaking in directions that not even Miyazaki would go. This is the man who made the perceptive "Only Yesterday" and the devastating "Grave of the Fireflies." "Pom Poko" isn't in that league, but it has its own pleasures.
In the early 90s, Japan was in the middle of an economic boom. The forests of Tama Hills are being bulldozed to make room for the New Tama housing development. But the deforestation threatens the tanuki (Japanese racoons) who live there, so they decide to form a five-year plan to fight back. This includes using their skills of transformation to deceive the humans and wreck havoc. But the tanuki are lazy and easily distracted, which causes problems.
The film's structure is its biggest success. It's constructed like a nature documentary, complete with an emotionless narrator, and at the beginning, an "interview." Voice actor Maurice LeMarche isn't David Attenborough, but he adds a slight sarcastic spin to his delivery that makes it consistently amusing. Talking about lazy racoons and shape shifting in the same way as a documentary on roads makes the whole thing bitingly satirical.
Unfortunately, this style presents the film's biggest drawback. It makes the viewer watch the story unfold at a distance, which makes it difficult to care about the characters or their problems. Character development is spotty, which is further hampered by the fact that there are too many of them to keep track of. Only a few stick out, like the hot-headed Gonta (Brown), the motherly Oroku (MacNeille) and the idealistic Shhokichi (Thomas). The voice acting is solid, but this is not an A-list effort like something that Disney would make (although the House of Mouse did distribute this film).
"Pom Poko" never stops evolving, which is both good and bad. The film is never boring or predictable, and it keeps in with the style of a documentary. But there's a sense that the film is trying to hold itself together. A good movie has confidence in its story and style all the way through. This one does not.
If Hayao Miyazaki were an dreamer, then Isao Takahata would be realist. "Only Yesterday" took a frank look at real life while "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" had a resolution that could only be described as bittersweet. "Grave of the Fireflies" devastated viewers because it never flinched in its look at the true cost of war. "Pom Poko" is neither realistic nor devastating, but Takahata's philosophy is impossible to deny. He feels that as devastating as change can be, we must accept it and learn to adapt.
Recommending "Pom Poko" is difficult. It's too long, the storytelling lacks confidence, and keeps viewers at a distance. But at the same time, Takahata tells his story with no safety net. He never sticks to established conventions or formulas. Plus the film has a brilliant satirical structure and raises intriguing philosophical issues. So I say it's worth making time for.
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