Customer Reviews

Twilight of the Cockroaches [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A compelling story of two roach colonies that are in opposite extremes of existance. One colony that lives in a single guy's apartment and the other in the apartment of a single woman. It echoes a tale of two cities. One nirvana, the other a constant battle for survival. The animation is simply like no other. If you don't like roaches you will love this movie. It has a compelling story as the two colonies face extinction. A must have for any animation collection. Simply a classic.

This is not your typical anime by any means. In fact, it is strictly speaking not even pure anime, but a combination of anime and live action. It concerns a colony of cockroaches living in a bachelors apartment, seemingly in peace with the owner, until he aquires a girlfriend, and with her guidance sets out to wipe them out. Yes, it is very slow, but the pace is deliberate, designed to aquaint us with the atmosphere of the roach settlers and introduce individual characters. I strongly suggest you watch it beginning to end - it is surprisingly powerful, and transcends its somewhat hokey premise to become one of the saddest animes i've ever seen.

"Franz Kafka meets Roger Rabbit" reads the front cover of the VHS box. On the cover we see a city of cockroaches made up of bottles, toys, and other garbage. Roach soldiers stand in formation on one side and partying roaches going out on the town in the other. Above all this a human hand looms, coming down from a thick mist. "Twilight of the Cockroaches," with this image alone, alerts you this is not your average film.

In the home of a lonely Japanese bachelor lives a large tribe of cockroaches, living the good life in many ways similar to humans. They have dance clubs, they have hotels, they use the bathtub for a pool, and they even have a system of government and religion. The man lives with obliviousness - even light amusement - to the cockroaches' world. In a humorous scene, the man looks down at the cockroach city made of bottles and is apologized to by the club owner for the noise. The focus of this tribe is Naomi, a young 19 year old ("in cockroach years") engaged to young cockroach lad Ichiro.

Across the way street lives another cockroach tribe. This one lives in a militarized society ruled by "the Enforcer" and are plagued by the owner who attacks them constantly. An officer, named Hans, makes it to the peaceful tribe to bring a report to Naomi's grandfather. Naomi finds herself smitten with Hans, a much more dashing and stronger roach than Ichiro, and when he leaves to return to his home she follows. But when she arrives she finds out the horrors of living under war. Most horrible of these is when she lands inside a roach motel and finds the half-dead, struggling bodies of those trapped. She returns to her homeland in a state of shock, but things do not end happily - for the enemy of the war-like tribe, a young woman, comes to live with the single man.

Some critics have accused the film of some faults. Some have said the film is badly animated, but really the animation is terrific. In particular were the live-action/animation scenes, which could have looked terrible but were surprisingly well done. Considering this film must have had a smaller budget than "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" the animators did a fine job, which shows in the scene where Naomi must deal with a tempest. The film is entirely shot from a roach's perspective, and during a shot of rainfall you watch raindrops literally drop upon you. Every sound made by the humans is amplified, so that even chewing is made monster-like, and the sound of the spray can becomes a nightmarish roar. The roach characters are well realized - they are very human in expressions but have six arms. The animation for the roaches' mobility is well realized, and when the roaches get down on all sixes and crawl it's very believable. In fact, the entire roach world is very believable and was conceived well, taking into account both fact and fiction. You really DO end up feeling for the insects. The only real thing that struck me as bizarre - VERY bizarre - was the talking feces scene. It's not as bad as it sounds and it's only five seconds of the film, but it will leave you thinking, "Did that just happen?" This didn't ruin my opinion of the film, but I'm giving you fair warning.

"Twilight of the Cockroaches" has been analyzed by other reviewers. Although I try to avoid bold claims, some of the visuals are very strong. The references to atomic attacks come with the shots of the powdered ruins, and the gassing of cockroaches in large groups could very well remind one of images from Dachau or Auschwitz. Some of the movie's stronger images are ones that need no analyzation. Naomi's entrance into the roach motel, the death of a character by BB-gun, and the silent shot of a young roach child wandering curiously into a roach motel are some of the most startling images in the film. There's plenty of satire to find, from the past or now. One of my favorite moments was the roach reporter asking Hans if his tribe's casualties "were in the hundreds" and making him show off his battle scars on camera as the peaceful tribe silently laughs at the misfortune of other people, never realizing it could well happen to their own.

The movie is really different from your usual fair of animation - Japanese or otherwise. I would suggest this readily to any one interested in animation and a good story. It's not a happy movie by any means, but it is worth a viewing.

this is a very unique movie very good if you like obscure things. and who doesn't love a cuddly talking turd

A colony of cockroaches lives peacefully in a messy bachelor's apartment until his new girlfriend moves in. " imdb

Adorable Cartoon cockroaches and real live Japanese actors (they never seem to speak.) In my opinion, the film feels grainy or poor quality, perhaps on purprose, to enhance the kitschy "B movie" appearance? Not sure, but the cartoons are super cute! Our cockroach Hero and Heroine must accept a travel adventure to save the day! I don't wish to spoil the movie, but this has the first "talking turd" way before South Park ever did that...

I saw this in a theatre in LA in 1990 and have been searching for it on VHS or DVD ever since.

I second all good comments already published.

I Liked this anime for the problems they faced( getting exterminated) And it had an a great love triangle thing going between the main character(a female cockroach), a warrior Roach, and a normal guy roach. I though the ending was a bit sad though...

The plot in this movie was exceptionally boring. It moved extremely slow, and kept me at the edge of my seat the whole time (literally, I was about to fall asleep and fall off my chair). I can not recomend this one to anyone