Customer Reviews

The Book of the Dead (Kihachiro Kawamoto)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although we are all familiar with three dimensional animation, either in the stop-motion style of Tim Burton or the computer designed efforts of
Pixar, Kihachiro Kawamoto's films are unique. He combines original puppets, Noh masks, traditional Japanese flute/ string melodies, natural sounds, lovely textiles, and Asian watercolor paintings to tell his stories. Altogether, it is a richly visual experience.

This movie is the tale of Japanese noble lady who leaves her home in search of a spiritual vision whereas that same vision is in search of an earthly experience. To see this film is to be immersed in Japanese textures and rhythms. Lovely, sensual, and exotic...and highly recommended.

A wonderful production, I have no complain about that. However, my disappointment came from the narration part. The original one was done by late great Kyoko Kishida, who was the actress did "Woman in the Dune", and her mysterious voice should have been so suitable for this kind of story, yet it was replaced with an English narration by some unknown actress. I do not say that English narration is bad, but at least we should be given a choice for the original Japanese one or the English one. And strangely enough all other dialogues are subtitled and there is no choice to turn off that either. On the back of the case, it is said that the subtitle is optional, but it is not true. I do not know why Kino Video did this way. If they wanted to overdub this, they should have done the entire thing, and then given us a choice. This is so stupid and disapponting to me although I still recommend this beautiful animation.

Everything about this stop animation works beautifully. The puppets themselves have more personality and individuality than some live actors I can name. Painted backgrounds, when they appear, are the best I've seen since some from the big studios of the 1930s. Models to go with the puppets are exquisitely made. A puppet works a model loom in one passage, and I'm convinced that the model actually works. Motion is some of the most elegant I've seen in stop animation - robes even flutter convincingly in the non-existent wind.

The story itself does not reveal itself easily, at least not to a Western eye. It follows a high-born daughter of a major feudal house, religious retreat, and a boddhisattva transcending life and death. This arises not only from a wholly Japanese cultural and historical background, but from a long tradition of Buddhist thought and myth. As a result, I can only appreciate this as a cultural outsider. The ending, clearly a crescendo in the story, carries meanings that eluded me. I am not criticizing - far from it, I appreciate the depths of the story, even if I can't see all the way into them myself. That just adds a wonderful, foreign sense of mystery to the technical mastery of this amazing movie.

-- wiredweird

This movie is not what I was expecting. I still enjoyed it, I don't regret buying it, but I'm a bit more open minded about some things. It is not dark, or eerie, it is not like the Nightmare Before Christmas in it's animation, other than they use the same stop motion camera work to produce it. The review titled Buddhist Fable is misleading in that sense, but it's description is accurate on everything else. If there was a rating on this, it would be "G". It is acceptable for small children to watch.