Directors: Katsuhiro Otomo, Koji Morimoto and Tensai Okamura
Year: 1995 Country: Japan Genre: Animation Score: 08/10
Production: Shochiku / Bandai Visual
"Memories" is an animated film consisting of three stories set in different eras. The first named Rosa Magnetic (directed by Koji Morimoto) is based on a manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, where two astronauts, following a distress signal, are dragged into a fantasy world created by the memories of a woman. The second is stink bomb (directed by Tensai Okamura) focuses on the story of a young chemist who accidentally becomes an unstoppable biological weapon that is routed directly to Tokyo. The third and last chapter is Meat Canyon (directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of the legendary film "Akira ") describes a day in the life of a city whose sole purpose is to launch an unknown enemy gunfire. With "I, Robot, Isaac Asimov's novel (not the movie starring Will Smith) discovered how well it sat in the science fiction short story structure. The author can fully develop concepts very different due to the lack of connections, you can practice ensemble as ephemeral as the importance of each individual in the world (can not be leading the world) and worked and types of characters, settings, narrative variety of genres and subgenres in a small space. "Memories" is a film made up of chapters, Otomo based on sleeves, plus this would retain the director's chair for the last segment.
As usual with animated films into chapters, these exercises tend to be more in style than specific narratives, as well as the level of the stories is not usually even, but this film is the exception here not the case, the intention is to show Otomo worlds and different times, for it uses only one link argument, is that the stories take place in the land of fantasy, and this makes it original and fascinating. The first chapter, Magnetic Rosa, is mysterious and romantic, also has a marvel of set design and visual effects. In this episode later helped the acclaimed director Satoshi Kon, who was in charge of the stunning art direction and script of the episode, itself based on a story by Otomo. I read that this episode was reminiscent of Kubrick, by its particular aesthetics, and may be so, however I found a certain kinship, rather than visual theme, with "Solaris" (1972), Tarkovsky, in that strange and charming environment where no one knows exactly where reality begins and ends where the dreams and memories. The set is Baroque and perhaps even romantic, decadent style of Visconti, with operations under apotheosis soundtrack. Some say it is the brightest of the three chapters, although I believe that each one has its particular charm.
The second episode, stink bomb is the most lively, if you can use this adjective. It is full of bad blood and black humor but all so friendly and fun. The music of this episode helps to give your particular fast pace. Here there is definitely a tone of parody to the genre, but instead of monsters have the bumbling employee of an advanced laboratory, experimental ingested pills (pills, mistaking the flu) and begins to give off a lethal gas through transpiration your body. As with all films of monsters, scenes are repeated forced the genre: the evacuations, military mobilization, command centers where you see the progress of the threat. The poor character, Tanaka, is ordered to leave the laboratory without leaders realize that he is the true biological weapon. What follows is the usual kind of taken to the extreme: Tanaka is on the road with his fragile bike while thousands of planes, helicopters, ships and tanks are waiting to bomb around the corner. Certainly it is also a parody of her own child Otomo to "Akira", Tanaka as his power increases geometrically with each of the strong emotions (without his account), leaving a huge trail of gas coming to catastrophic levels (at the end can infect ships and vehicles hundreds of yards away). The end is obvious, but it's exciting. There is not much mystery in the whole affair.
Where there is mystery itself is in the last segment, cannon fodder. This chapter takes the time to paint a fascinating alternate universe ... but ends up telling a story in the traditional sense, beginning and end. It's just a bullet on this very particular world, which seems a delusion of the industrial age, like World War had not ended and spend many years in conflict (and with little advance in technology.) It's definitely a fantasy "steampunk," where every building has turrets mounted on the roofs, the houses are made of steel and pipes, and live in a culture of war. The boy's father works every day hero as a carrier of one of the huge gun offensive style of the guns of World War I, and the mother is working in a munitions factory. Even the uniforms look like something out of the German Prussian militia, 1914. While Otomo direction is excellent, takes a unique pan constantly moving around the world showing up to the smallest detail, the story has no conclusion. The guns bombard a "mobile city" enemy, but never explains the causes of war or the duration of the conflict. It's a fascinating scenario that was standing to have his own film.
Beyond the masterful staging of this vast flat-sequence that shows how a day in the life of these characters, even beyond the wonderful animation, we have a true reflection on the nature of human beings, deep and moving. Hair stand on end, especially because among all the apparent nonsense, a part of our interior feels and recognizes identified various defects of our flawed society in it. That conversation between father and son about who shot and why you can not leave anyone indifferent. The shortest of the three stories, but by far the brightest and captivating. The amount of information and manages to convey feelings that go beyond what I could imagine for just a short animation of only 15 minutes. In short "Memories" serves as a virtual tour to Otomo created fantastic universes, but not much more than that. Technically impeccable, the stories entertain, and manages to create good atmosphere. But the consistency of the stories is not too much, and only serve as an excuse to plunge into fascinating worlds of visual imagery. Missed.
"Three good stories, in three different times"
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