Customer Reviews

A Tree of Palme

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

 

 

A tree of palme is a beutiful animated film loosely based upon the ever iconic Pinnochio. That is not to say this is a retelling of that story, it is a film based on the CONCEPT of Pinnochio rather than the NARRATIVE, those who were angered or confused by the fact that the filom has little to nothing to do with the fairy tale are just missing the point.
A Tree of Palme is the story about one puppets (Palmes') quest to become human. And as a side note to ANYONE claiming that this is not his(Palme's) original intent, his pseudo father says upon reactivating him that he called the Fairy Xian and chased the giant fish because he was searching for a purpose, all he wants to be is human, he merely does not relize that it is the very longing to be human that makes him human.

The film is lovingly crafted and full of wierd alien landscapes designed soley to evoke wonder and curiosity.
It is also a tragic film, full of hardship and horrible hapenstance, one can not help but shed a figuritive tear at the horrors Palme and his friends both face and become.

It is constantly criticized for not having a "Cohesive narritive" or being "over developed but under realized" the naysayers that claim this are mistaken and again, are missing the point.

A tree of Palme is a allegory as well as a fairy tale. Not Everything is supposed to make absolute sense. Why doesn't anybody criticize Miyazaki (the director of the animated films Spirited Away,Howl's Moving Castle, and Princess Mononokee) for the same reasons? His works are just as (if not more surreal)than A tree of Palme yet are never criticized as such.

The film is logical from a child's point of view, a kind of strange if these things exist, than this must happen, mentality that has been all but lost in an age of modern cinema awash in cliches and tired retreads of aging concepts, the film expects you to interpret the meaning of itself, it doesn't spoon feed you plot or reasoning, it assumes you have a mind and can sort those dillemas out for yourself.

Again, A Tree of Palme is a enchanting film that never really got the publicity or appreciation it deserved. Buy and Own this film, it is a genunine classic in an age of pretenders.

When I picked up Tree of Palme to watch, I honestly didn't know what to expect. I also didn't notice that the story was supposed to be Pinocchio with a twist either. To put it simply, the summary drew me in and I found myself wanting to watch it for the sake of watching it. So, I didn't come into the movie with any expectations.

When the movie starts off, it comes across as slightly confusing and in the long run, there are bits that you wish could have been expanded upon. Thing is, the confusion is cleared up not long into the film and some of the things that aren't expanded upon were for time sake. There are also a few brash jumps, but over all, the film is enjoyable.

Something to keep in mind about this film is the fact that it the world it takes place in is not a realistic one, but in fact very surreal, something that will not appeal to the tastes of everyone who may pick this up. That said, the things that don't occur in reality are still believable, something that is very important for the viewer.

The characters were what I liked best. They had lovable personalities that make the viewer fall in love with them. The characters also aren't perfect, they have individual flaws to them that help to round out each one to be very unique. Well, Mu and Pu are very similar to each other, but then there is an obvious reason for that.

At the end, I was left wanting more about the characters, but knew with the way the story ended, I'll be unlikely to end up with sequel to the movie. Also, parents should be for warned that the theme of the movie is on the dark side and death is talked about from the very beginning of the movie. The whole thing is likable, not to mention enjoyable.

This Japanese Animated tale is a beautiful fantasy that will transport the viewer to a completely original world of creativity-unbounded. This is one of my top 10 movies of all time. The eerie strangeness of this work of art are comparable to Sci-Fi classics like Fantatic Planet.

i love anime and twists on old stories/fairy tales. the main character is very lovable in his innocence and i thought the animation was very well done and beautiful.

A fable of a Pinocchio sort of a reborn as a sci fi animation
with some very good art. The gas bag type of plants that float in the air and the clouds are all done very well.
Here we have children of the street being hunted
and uniting against their oppressors.
The bad guys are chasing the puppet and his girl friend
because they want the egg built into him.
I enjoyed the film, but at times it was hard to follow in translation.

A journey of soul seeking for a robot with dreams of becoming human.
This is a film created, directed and written by Takashi Nakamura. Known for his work as animation director for Katsuhiro Otomo's "Aklra", key frame animator for "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" and "Macross: Do You Remember Love?"

The work of Takashi Nakamura is well known in the Japanese anime industry and his work on "A Tree of Palme" is definitely a highlight in his career.

Originally planned as a television series, "A Tree of Palme" took seven years to plan and three and a half years to produce.

With many animation going digital, this film was created almost entirely of cel animation.

The background art in this film was created by art director Mutsuo Koseki, known for his works on films such as "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" and "Grave of the Fireflies", "A Tree of Palme" is a film that will be known for its production values.

As for the storyline, Nakamura's goal was to do something different from what was out there in Japanese animation and to make a film that would be about a state of soul that each of us have and depending on the viewer, will have their own interpretation of their feelings of the film.

Needless to say that despite the film looking very childlike, this film is anything but.

The storyline encompasses a planet with three regions. The World above called Touto, the world of land called Arcana and the world below called Tamas.

People believe that Touto is a place where Gods live. Arcana is the land where most people who work in factory towns reside. Tamas is a region where tribes live in and in Tamas is a giant Kooloop tree called Soma which ingested the memories of ancience civilizations.

The storyline of "A Tree of Palme" revolves around a robot named Palme who was created from the sacred Kuroop tree.

One day, a mysterious woman gives Palme the egg of Touto that gives him life and puts him on a crusade to become human.

Joining him in his crusade are a group of misfits that through his journey will also be doing some soul-searching along with Palme.
Althought very Pinocchio-like, the storyline of "A Tree of Palme" is not as happy as one would think.

There are mercenaries who would kill to get the egg of Touto and needless to say, this film has its share of violence.

The animation of this filme is definitely top notch. Although cel animation is not used during this digital age, Nakamura takes us to the pinnacle of cel animation. Also, a distinct, unique style of how the characters are created definitely stays within his goal of making this animated film different from others.

The audio is presented in Digital 5.1 in English and Japanese and I can tell you that both audio tracks are excellent and the English dub is very well done and well-acted.

The DVD comes with special features such as a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of "Tree of Palme", character, mechanical and prop design sketches, artwork, 5 key sequence animatics, the Japanese promos and trailers and an informative trailer.

"A Tree of Palme" is a film where people will have different feelings about and different interpretations.

For me, it was a film that showed us the pain in the lives of Palme's friends who had parents that were not really there for them and if they were, their parents were abusive towards them.

As for Palme, like Pinochio, he wants to be human. He has felt love but he will do what it takes to become human.

And this is where the distinction between Palme and Pinocchio ends as the cute and gullible Palme becomes a robot that will do what it takes to become human and that anything becomes quite violent and surprising.

This is truly a film that is different and unique and also a film that probably requires more than one viewing to really understand things.

Nakamura really did want people to watch and think about this film and this film did just that.

With beautiful animation, beautiful acting and a unique storyline, I highly recommend this animated film.

Ok, i'll make this short and sweet. If you like twisted tales then you'll love it! I mean really bizarre, strange music, so-so drawn anime characters, and truly strange and twisted. I bought this because i hunt down good anime movies. I have bought all of Hayao Miyazaki's films and love nearly all of them. I also own Princess mononoke, X, Final Fantasy: advent children, inuyasha movies, naruto movies, tekkon kinkreet, vamire hunter D... etc etc. I would recommend any of these to anyone. Still... there's no way i would recommend "A tree of Palme", because i really didn't think it was good. You need to have an aquired taste for it and it's not for everyone.

I just wanted to put it out there that the movie, even with it's appealing cover, is not as good as you would think. If anything try out the movie "Origin's". It has a very unique flavor and in my opinion is a lot better than the this movie. It's just so damn strange i felt like i was watching a Rob Zombie anime or something. Well i hope you get what i mean. lol

..ok, that about sums this up.

There is a scene in this film where a character climbs the tentacles of a massive floating jelly fish and, after splitting its juicy insides, he reappears at the top and detaches its swim bladder, floating happily around as the hulking creature silently slumps to the dirt and grows dark. Popo, the shy female lead, gasps in horror at the sight as the rest of the characters laugh and cheer, blissfully unaware that they had done anything wrong. That scene, to me, sums up the feel of this film. It is dirty, yet as innocent as that kid who pulls a cat's tail to hear it scream. He doesn't connect the scream to pain, at least not on a conscious level.

Tree of Palme, was and excellent anime, and i cant pretend like it didnt just hike its way to my top ten of anime in the first watch of the film, BECAUSE IT DID.

A Tree Of Palme is about a robot, Palme, who is awakened by a mysterious woman that looks like his dead master. The woman gives him a mission to take an egg to the world below. Palme starts out his journey without hardly any memories except the ones with his mistress and how happy he was with her. Soon he learns many things, and wakes up in time to begin his journey to save the world.


Theres a deep ominous feel through all of A Tree of Palme, the beginning and end music are partly to blame, being completely allegorical and retaining a sense of haiku, the other thing is to blame is the setting and the color schemes. Tho the movie is somewhat dark, the setting and colors are definitly not, with giant trees from the pages of doctor suiss, to flowers completly and beautifully done in CG, the look and sound of this movie is an 11 out of 10. Flawless.

The story, however, is not flawless. But thats what makes this movie great. u c the points of view of many different characters, their background stories, and their hopes and dreams are revealed through a slow process filled with action and scene after scene of awe-inspiring artistic direction. The story is mostly based on the theme of loss, and the things needed to fill those holes, but its also about palme's journey of self discovery.

Pinochio definitly comes to mind in this movie, but Palme doesnt want to b a real boy, until a certain point in the story, and even then the fact that he's robot and that he wants to b real only serve as a plot point, not the main subject. The director has mentioned that he does pull some things from pinnochio, but thats because this type of story is done all the time in anime, robots/puppets and their relationships to humans, and he wanted to break away from the that genre all together. The director says that pinnochio was not really about that at all, it was about self discovery and the sense of want, and what you will do to get what u want, and also about guilt.
Also, theres the literal differences, pinnochio was a puppet with a spell put on him, palme is a robot made from a tree to help cheer up a dieing woman(not a spoiler).

A tree of palme kicks some of myazaki's films out of my top ten, and takes up alongside of akira and ghost in the shell, a great buy for any fan of anime, especially those always looking for that next EPIC movie for their collection. Buy this film.

I can't pretend to know too much about Anime -- or even this film, for that matter. However, "Tree of Palme" is a beautiful, confounding, work of art. The animation is superb, blending computer-aided effects with traditional cel animation in a tale that feels epic and urgent. The plight of the robotic boy elicits genuine sympathy, and the allusions to Pinocchio make the film feel familiar, even when the backdrop and plot become a bit convoluted and foreign. I am very pleased to see this film receive U.S. distribution, and I look forward to seeing it again.