Akira

It always seems odd to me that Akira is now used as the lynchpin for elitists to dismiss other anime enthusiasts. It seems to me that if you say your favourite anime is Akira, Spirited Away, Monokoke, or Ghost in the Shell you will most likely get laughed at in some circles. The reason is that Akira is seen as something of a lowest common denominator, the fact it was internationally popular meaning that no ‘true’ anime fan can hold it as their favourite.

Which brings attention to myself, an anime lover for the last decade or so, a person whom I respect very much, and whom will quite proudly state that his favourite anime is Akira. Despite having seen some of the less well known anime films, the ones that ‘elitists’ gush over, such as Graveyard of the Fireflies, Millennium Actress, Love Hina, Naruto, Spiral, Geneshaft and Full Metal Alchemist, I still think that Akira is possibly one of the greatest films ever made.

Essentially Akira is an anime conversion of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Manga from the 1980s, a Manga which was as insidiously large as it was groundbreaking. The 2000 page Manga was converted into an animated feature in 1988, six years after its initial release.

Akira starts out with Tokyo devastated by a nuclear blast, an explosion of darkest black highlighted against a clinically white background. From this point onwards we are thrust into a near future world, where a sprawling new city has been built on the ashes of the old. Neo Tokyo.

I am not going to go into too much detail about the plot, it can be basically surmised as follows; bikers find out about rivals and stage attack, during the course of the attack one of the bikers is involved in an accident due to a freaky kid in the middle of the road, biker is taken to military research institute and has his latent power and desires enhanced, he breaks out and is recaptured, goes mental and kills tons of people, turns into a homogenous blob and essentially implodes.

Where Akira succeeds more than anything else is a sense of visceral energy that is generated, everything from the biker wars to Kaneda and Tetsuo’s final standoff is brutal and almost barbaric. A sense of violence pervading every scene as revolutionaries are beaten to a bloody pulp by totalitarian police, a man is gunned down in the middle of a crowded street, soldiers are ripped limb from limb by Tetsuo and his growing power, and Tetsuo’s girlfriend is raped by a rival biker gang.

Everything has a tangible desperateness to it and often displays a level of nihilism which is only comparable to Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. In the end the film can largely be seen as a parable about human failing in dire situations, Tetsuo turned into a vicious monster through his lust for power being a major example. Kaneda is another interesting character, as he is in a conventional sense the hero of the piece and yet he is motivated either by his affections for Kei or what appears to be a jealously at Tetsuo’s power. Indeed the final standoff seems to be a product of Kaneda feeling his position has been usurped rather than through any heroic principles.

What sets this apart from other films is a level of art design which is still not beaten, there are scenes in this 16 year old movie that are still as powerful as they were when the film was released. Chief in my mind is the opening biker fight (the standoff between Kaneda and the Clown Chief being a particular favourite), Tetsuo’s nightmare scene, and the military satellite blasting off Tetsuo’s arm with silent menace.

This is all aided by a simple fabulous score by Geinoh Yamashirogumi, a vocal troop which give what is essentially a cyberpunk parable a does of almost mythological grandeur through their use of chanting and traditional instruments. Particular standouts include Battle Against Clown, Shohmyoh, and Requiem.

All in all Akira is a classic movie which is possible the best anime film ever made, the only really bad points is that in condensing the Manga down they miss out on some of the more subtle plot points and some of the more interesting aspects (in the Manga for example Tetsuo becomes the leader of the Clowns, gets hooked to drugs to stop the headaches, and has a full on biker war against his old gang…)



But that doesn’t stop this from being a film of almost poetic majesty, and one that any anime fan (or movie fan for that matter) should be proud to call a favourite.

10/10

The Wicker Man

Oh God! Oh Jesus Christ!

When Sergeant Howie, a mainland police officer, receives a letter detailing the disappearance of a young girl on the isolated Scottish island of Summerisle he launches an investigation to find young Rowan by himself. However upon arrival the righteous police officer finds himself dealing with obstructive locals and practices which shake his Christian core.

Made in the winter of 1973 The Wicker Man still stands as one of the finest British films ever made. Mixing a stunning script and tight plot by Anthony Shaffer, stunning direction by Robin Hardy and two central performances which have yet to be topped by either Edward Woodward (Sgt. Howie) or Christopher Lee (Lord Summerisle), it is an ingenious and peculiarly British film.

What is the central crux of the film is Howie’s rigid clash with the pagan ways of the islanders. From the moment he arrives on the Ireland Howie views himself as a bastion of moral and ethical superiority, his religious convictions putting him squarely at odds with the locals who flaunt their old ways with reckless abandon.

Howie finds himself in a world of pagan song and dance from which he is completely isolated. Saving himself for marriage he encounters a community who use sexuality as their way of worship, girls jump naked over fires, the maypole is declared a sign of fertility, boys are ritually matured, couples engage in romps below the stars, and the denizens of the pub break into rapturous verse about the Landlord’s daughter, Willow (a truly stunning performance by Britt Ekland).

Taking its practices from St James George Frazer’s ‘The Golden Bough’ and incorporating the works of Robert Burns into its 13 songs the Wicker Man is a wondrously energetic and spirited glimpse at a neo-pagan community left to its own devices. Created by Lord Summerisle’s grandfather as part of an experiment in artificial crop production the practices of the island were assimilated from the very real mythology of ancient Britain, albeit a hodge podge of different customs.

However despite the initial frivolity it soon becomes clear that Howie has landed himself in a trap of epic proportions, a fatal game devised by Lord Summerisle and played by the entire island leading Howie, seemingly by his own freewill, to his brutal appointment with the Wicker Man.

The Wicker Man is a masterful horror movie largely because it mixes a general sense of unease with a vibrancy and playfulness that lures the viewer into a false sense of security. Sgt. Howie is not much of a sympathetic character and his reactionary response to the pagan practices does little to endear him to the audience. Standing against the rigid, pious and narrow minded police officer is an ensemble of characters that seem to bear the officer no ill will on the surface.

That the conclusion, despite being the only natural end to the story, is tragic and upsetting is down to Woodward’s performance who gives Howie an innocence that offsets his less than friendly reaction to the islanders. For all the possible accusations of anti-Christianity levelled against the film the last minutes, when Howie accepts his fate it can be seen as a powerful depiction of Christian martyrdom.

If I have not mentioned the finale in any great detail it is because I wish not to surprise the sheer cataclysmic horror of the initial reveal and subsequent end.

The Wicker Man is a movie that has been with me for 10 years now and despite the horror elements it is a film that I find to be constantly uplifting and enrapturing. Aided by a wondrous folk score, provided by Paul Giovanni, and beautiful location shooting it is by far one of my all time favourite movies.



It is a great crime that the original negatives of the film have been lost, seemingly forever, but as it stands this is one of the great British movies and without a doubt the pinnacle of Christopher Lee’s career.

This film is an iconic masterpiece which should be essentially viewing for any person interested in movies.

10/10