Princess Mononoke

On the one hand an allegory for the struggle between man and nature, and on the other a story which blends traditional Japanese folklore and prehistory with fantasy elements of its own creation to make for an enveloping story, Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, to this day it remains a stunning piece of animation. It has scenes of lyrical beauty, and a an environmental message that is every bit as relevant today as it was during its release in 1997 (1999 US). It works as a parable, yet stands on its own as entertainment. It is a masterwork.

Please note: Entries about media reviewed in this blog are written from the perspective that the reader has already seen the work in question and desires further commentary or explanation. Plot twists and endings will sometimes be examined.

The movie begins with a voice over (or crawl of words in the Japanese version) telling the audience that long ago the land and forests were inhabited by ancient gods who dwelled with nature. We then see the main character of the film, Ashitaka, wandering through the woods. He's told by some village girls that something is wrong in the forest and the elders have called everyone in. Shortly after visiting the lookout, he sees what has caused the forest to grow so quiet. A demon comes through their barriers and knocks down the lookout post. Running in front of it, Ashitaka begs it to quell its rage but the creature continues to charge forward. When it threatens the girls who haven't yet made it to safety, Ashitaka is forced to attack and then kill it in self defense. The creature manages to touch him in the process, scarring him and, later we learn, cursing him. The beast is the first many incredible spectacles the movie has in store for us. It appears from a distance to be a giant insect or spider, but we see later that it's skin and legs are actually made of countless, writhing, worm-like forms, covering a giant boar. Upon its original release, critic Roger Ebert described it as an effect that would be impossible in live-action, and while CGI has come a ways since then, it's still arguable that it could be done this well.

The village elders gather and Ashitaka is told that the scar is actually an infection of sorts, and that it will continue to grow and grow until finally it kills him. Forced out of his village, the only clues he has are that the creature came from the west, and was once a boar that was infected itself by an iron ball that broke it's body and later it's mind. While leaving Ashitaka is stopped briefly by his sister, who knowing the elders' decision wants to say goodbye, and gives him a crystal dagger to remember her by. Alone but for his mount, a red elk named Yakul, Ashitaka heads east seeking a cure.

Heading east, Ashitaka happens upon a village being massacred by samurai and is attacked himself when he tries to run past them. He kills two men with his bow and arrow while breaking free, and learns to his shock that the curse has given him inhuman strength; his shots now have enough force to dismember those he shoots at.

In a village later, he attempts to buy rice with a small nugget of gold (being from a small village he has no coin), and is helped out of a confrontation with the merchant by Jiko, a hunter/tracker who saw him fight the samurai earlier. The two make camp together, and when Ashitaka asks about the boar who attacked him and the iron ball he has, Jigo tells him only that there is a forest to the west where the beasts are all giants like they were at the beginning of time, leading Ashitaka to head that direction in the morning. Jigo, while a humorous character, lets on that he knows a lot more than he says very early in the movie. His craftiness saves Ashitaka not only from trouble with the merchant in the village, but also some men who follow the two immediately afterwards. He also deduces correctly that Ashitaka is one of the Emishi people, at that time a small and unincorporated tribe of which could be placed in harm's way were knowledge of it to get out.

We next see a caravan moving on a narrow path along the side of a winding mountain, transporting goods back to Iron Town. We are first introduced to the Lady Eboshi when the caravan is attacked by giant wolves and she fires an iron ball into the breast called Moro, the very large mother wolf, toppling her down into a river in the ravine far below, but not before she knocks down several of the oxen and men from the caravan.

Far below, Ashitaka hears the firing, then notices men floating through the river, the same who fell earlier. He's able to save two of them, then he notices the wolves and a young girl who is with them. San, is the final major human character to be introduced. When we first see her she is sucking the infected blood out of Moro's wound providing care for her, but wild and uncivilized in the way she moves and acts. When she and the wolves catch wind of Ashitaka watching them, he announces himself peacefully and asks them for help, but is ignored by the girl and wolves who leave abruptly after telling him only to go away.
Ashitaka helps the two men he pulled from the river, one of whom is too wounded to even talk much. The other we learn is named Kouroku, and is an ox driver at Iron Town. He is scared to death of the tiny spirit like creatures called the kodama who inhabit the forest and are small and white and can become transparent. Ashitaka, however, is friendly towards them and even asks them for passage. Following the creatures through the woods, Kouroku repeatedly voices his worries to Ashitaka, but they fall upon deaf ears as Ashitaka trusts the creatures and fears for the condition of the other man if they don't make it to Iron Town quickly. Through Kouroku's actions it is made it clear that the members of Iron Town are afraid of this place and those who dwell within it.

The forest they pass through is ancient and primordial. We get the sense that no humans have walked through in a long time, if at all ever. The glades at the center of it reveal tracks of the girl and the wolves and Ashitaka realizes that this is where they live. He glimpses briefly a figure of a deer with a man's head (a description matching one Kouroku had made earlier as belonging the great "Spirit of the Forest"), but an agitation in his scarred arm forces Ashitaka to submerge his arm in the water to soothe it. Due to this part of the film as well as some scenes later when he recovers from another wound, I've often wondered if the water in this place is supposed to be sacred or have healing properties, and if the water poured by the old woman on Ashitaka's arm right after he is initially cursed by the demon boar in the beginning is meant to have come from this place.

Ashitaka and those with him emerge from the woods safely to reach iron town. Though Eboshi's chief bodyguard Gonza is suspicious of him for passing through the forest, everyone else is grateful to him for saving the two men, including Eboshi herself, who invites him to see her later. Iron Town, we learn, is a safe and peaceful place and though the work there is hard, the conditions are good and the Lady Eboshi is revealed to be a firm but fair and competent leader who genuinely cares about her people. We also discover, however, that it was her forges that made the guns and iron that drove insane the boar which poisoned Ashitaka. When he confronts her on this, she is defended by some of her workers, lepers who were cast away and shunned by all until she showed mercy and took them in. A quiet conversation with her outside on the walls also reveals that the girl he saw earlier is known by the people of Iron Town as the Princess Mononoke (literally translated "monster princess" from Japanese) and that she is believed to have been seduced by the wolves.

The girl in question, San, then makes another appearance suddenly when she directly attacks the village hoping to kill Eboshi. In a very symbolic scene that is probably my favorite in the whole film, Ashitaka defends San from the villagers when her attack goes badly and then even breaks up a direct fight between her and Eboshi, saving one or both of their lives in the process. He also, however, gets shot himself by a nervous gun wielder while walking out carrying an unconscious San in front of the otherwise awestruck inhabitants of iron town. The scene is a very important one. With all the major pieces now more or less in place, we begin to see what the movie has in store for us as the fighting between the two sides -Iron Town and Eboshi on the one hand, San and the creatures of the forest on the other- escalates, with Ashitaka caught in the middle, trying to protect and mediate with both even at a danger to himself. Being cursed and having nothing to lose, he wants only to quell the hatred and animosity the two have for each other and puts himself in harms way to defend both sides. The scene is something of a microcosm for the conflict that is the center of the film, and we'll see shortly just how far all the parties involved are willing to go to get what they want.

After he collapses from his wounds, San takes Ashitaka back to the enchanted glade where we learn the spirit of the forest does indeed dwell. Using a natural marker she leaves him lying on the shore of an island in the still waters of the pond there. We see Spirit of the Forest has a different form at night called "The Nightwalker": gigantic, luminous and transparent like jelly. During the day it takes on its previously seen deer-like form. When it comes to the marker where Ashitaka lies, it simply breathes upon him, and later we learn that by doing so has healed his wounds.

The next day, Ashitaka awakes to discover that he has survived, but that the curse on his arm remains as well. He is so weak he can barely move when San appears to greet him and tells him that she has learned about him some from Yakul (she can speak with animals), who remained by his side despite being released by San the night before. Next comes another incredible scene, as San feeds Ashitaka, who lacks the strength to even eat, by chewing herself the food she has brought him and then putting it into his mouth. I've heard stories that children of Native American tribes would do this for elderly members who no longer had teeth, and while San doesn't seem to think anything of it, it's clear Ashitaka does by the tears that flow from his eyes. It's a scene more tender than many of the love scenes that appear throughout the myriad of other movies out there, we realize what this girl is doing to save his life.This is interrupted by the arrival an army of giant boars who have traveled there to fight Eboshi, furious at her and the fate which befell their friend, Nago (the same boar from earlier who became a demon and cursed Ashitaka). They see Ashitaka there and become enraged and threaten to kill him as well until their leader, Okkoto, appears. Okkoto, wise and old but blind as well, communes with Ashitaka and decides to spare him, but is unswayed by the words of the wolf clan who advise him not to fight Eboshi. We sense that Okkoto suspects a trap, just as the wolves do, but does not fear death in battle and prefers it to the slow extermination facing his kind with man's expansion.Late at night Ashitaka awakes to look out upon the forest. In another stunning scene, we hear a conversation between him and Moro, who regards San as a daughter and has harsh words for Ashitaka when asks her to release the girl, claiming she belongs with other humans. We learn that San was taken in as a child and that the forest and wolves are the only life she has ever known. Though she clearly cares for him, separating her from the life she has now appears impossible.While Ashitaka is recovering, other big things are occurring as well. We see that Lady Eboshi has other problems than the guardians of the forest; a greedy warlord, named Asano, whose land neighbors hers has begun attacking her and Iron Town in an attempt to extort tribute from her. Eboshi, however, armed with gunpowder and iron is resisting fiercely, and Asano appears unable to gain ground against her. Jigo, the tracker from earlier, also reappears, with dozens other hunters, trained killers, in his employ. Calling in a favor from Eboshi, he wants to find and behead the Spirit of the Forest, to claim a huge reward from the emperor, who believes the head grants eternal life.

Things play out very steadily from this point on in the narrative. Ashitaka recovers and heads back towards Iron Town, only to discover it is being besieged by Asano. The villagers tell Ashitaka to get word to Eboshi and the men of the village, who accompanied her to do battle with the boars. After fighting several samurai, and Yakul getting wounded by an arrow, he slips through and comes across the wreckage of the assault against Eboshi and the hunters. Disastrous, and indeed a trap after all, the ground is littered with the carcasses of dead boars. San and Okkoto, who were both part of the battle are nowhere to be found, though one of the wolves is. Ashitaka, though opposed by the hunters there, is aided by the villagers when he tells them of the attack on Iron Town and his intent to inform Eboshi. He frees the wolf and then tries to find San and Okkoto who are being followed by more of Jigo's hunters, and have disguised themselves in boar skins. Okkoto is already beginning to transform into a demon just as Nago did, and San is trying to get him to the Forest Spirit to avoid that fate, but instead is hit by one of the hunter's projectiles and ends up up trapped on Okkoto's head and in danger of becoming a demon herself.

Though Ashitaka is able to warn her, Eboshi continues with her mission to acquire the Forest Spirit's head while he moves on ahead and tries to save San. With help from Moro, who attacks Okkoto, he is able to free San, but just then the Forest Spirit arrives only to breathe upon Okkoto, which this time ends his his life rather than saving it as was the case with Ashitaka. Moro appears to fall dead as well. As the forest spirit begins to transform to into The Nightwalker, Eboshi fires upon it, beheading it for Jigo who grabs the head and takes it in a large iron box with some of his men. The Forest Spirit's body oozes every direction, sucking the life out of everything it touches. For those familiar with Nausicca, this and the offensive with the boars form this movie's daikaisho moments. Moro, we suddenly see, was not actually dead but simply fallen over, and just how intense her hatred for Eboshi was becomes apparent when we see her head make a final leap for the woman only to take her off her arm.
San screams and curses at Ashitaka when he refuses to allow her to kill Eboshi, but in the end the two have no choice but to work together to stop Jigo and return the head to the Forest Spirit. The forest is dying all around them, and the kodama fall lifeless from the trees. A long chase ensues, where Ashitaka is able to warn the villagers of Iron Town to abandon it, Asano's men are devestated by the ooze, and finally the two heroes catch up with Jigo to retrieve the head and return it just as the sunrises.We've seen what happens before when the Forest Spirit changes form in the forest at daybreak, and it is followed by very strong gusts of wind blowing the treetops in all directions. This time the gusts are violent beyond belief and eradicate Iron Town because of the Forest Spirit's proximity to it. In the aftermath of it all, fresh grass, shoots, and flowers bloom from the dead vegetation covering the land. Looking at the villagers again we see that one of the lepers has been cured. Ashitaka's arm still bears faint marks from the scars of his curse though it isn't made clear if it is still active or not. Eboshi shows a quiet expression of regret even as she announces her intent to rebuild Iron Town but do a better job of it than she did the first time, while Ashitaka and San share a final conversation. Unable to live as a human she'll return to the forest with the wolves, while Ashitaka tells her he'll live in Iron Town but continue to visit her. The final shot in the film is of a solitary kodama materializing to look over some newly bloomed flowers hinting at the possibility of rebirth and healing after the destruction which just proceeded.

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Man vs Nature

As mentioned before, the movie functions on two different level, one of which is a representation of the Man vs Nature conflict. The entire work could in many ways be seen as a very long extended metaphor which literally asks: What if nature had an army to do battle with the humans? Nature's army in this case is much more primal and at the same time more primitive than that of Man's. We see that Nature can be elegant and graceful (as is the case with the wolves) though also more brute and angry but clumsy (in this case the boars).

Nature can be kind and simple but also simply harsh and unforgiving. It has a balance of sorts and death is seen as part of a process which gives rise to new life by providing new chances and opportunities for others to live. One aspect of the Forest Spirit which demonstrates this is the way it takes life away even as it gives it back in the same breath. Plants bloom rapidly beneath its feet only to the grow old, wilt and die before the Spirit even lifts its foot: life and death in every step it takes.
The aspects of nature and the forest itself are personified (if you can call it that) by giving speech to the animals so we can hear its thoughts (its pain, its anger, its sadness and fear). The Forest Spirit itself, however, doesn't speak, almost as if to give the most powerful and mythic creature an air of mystery. Neither we nor the humans on screen or even the other gods of the wolf and boar clans can understand it or its ways.

While the main theme of conflict is Man vs Nature, the movie doesn't limit itself to that theme alone either. It does also show us the cruelty and selfishness of man (particularly through the opportunistic lord Asano and the tracker Jiko). In short, the ugliness of human nature is also on display.

What the movie understands and demonstrates so well is that our state of existence hangs upon a fragile symmetry between Man and Nature. We humans reshape the world we inhabit at will, and at times we (like the people of Iron Town in the film) dig out the very foundations that it is all built upon, treating the world like a commodity to be mined and used up, and ultimately leaving ourselves with no out when it's all done.


As a Story of Folklore and Ancient Fantasy

At the same time, Princess Mononoke is also a mythical story which recreates elements of an archaic Japan and mixes in magical elements of its own invention to weave its story.

One element that adds much to the mythological feel is that the giant creatures within it are actually referred to as "gods". Looking back at many of the ancient societies we have abundant information on, we can see that one concept common to many is that their gods were modeled after nature and beasts i.e. The god of the sun, The god of the sky, The god of the forest... The gods of this film also resemble more the ancient ones, like those in the stories of the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Mesopotamians, before our "modern day" concepts of monotheism emerged (that being the one about there being only one, true, all-powerful, infallible, all-caring god who seldom interferes and generally does so indirectly). The gods of this film are at times angry, wanton and cruel, and at times cannot be negotiated with.

The human characters represent of the film too, represent the different aspects of humans today towards Nature, and while this does in some ways overlap the Man vs Nature argument, I thought it best to include it in the story telling analysis.

Ashitaka and his tribe (the Emishi) are based on a real group of people who lived in the northern part of Honshu. Not much is known about the Emishi, but it is believed they had ties and similarities to the Ainu (the original inhabitants of Japan), and such influences are very apparent in this film's recreating of the Emishi.

As portrayed in the movie, there are a lot of Ainu-styles in the group, for example, the cut and patterns of their kimonos, the stone arrowheads, and clay fired pottery they use. The real Ainu were eventually forced further and further north until Hokkaido became something of a last frontier for the "Japanese pioneers" if you will. Japanese history in this way mirrors colonial america but in this version, the Ainu were nearly completely absorbed or killed off unlike the Native Americans, some of whom managed to survive with both their genes and culture intact.

The real Emishi were believed to have been something of a mix between the modern day (asian) Japanese and the Ainu. They survived the onslaught of the encroaching Samurai fiefdoms by fighting them back and managed to stymie them for a while because their style of fighting was different. The warriors of that time tended to be heavily armored foot soldiers, and the Emishi were good at firing arrows on horseback allowing them to pull off some very daring surprise attacks, ravage their enemies and then retreat faster than they could be pursued. Eventually their enemies adapted and many Emishi either joined their former foes or were wiped out in the years following. Ashitaka fights in a very similar way (mostly bow and arrow, though he rides Yakul rather than a horse). He also uses a blade very different than the katana which were specialized for war. His looks a bit like a machete and was probably used as a tool as well as fighting.

Above: Pictures from the film of Ashitaka's tribe

Below: Actual photos of Ainu

It is very telling and symbolic of Miyazaki to chose this group of people for Ashitaka's origin. Perhaps it reflects a belief that the old and new ways must coexist: respect and harmony with nature while at the same time a willingness to harness it and acceptance that doing so helps save more lives and improves them. In our story, Ashitaka cares about the forest and wants to save it but also loves human beings and has no desire to see them suffer either.

The Lady Eboshi on the other hand, is very driven and "doesn't even fear the gods" to use the words of other characters in the story. She'd be the villain in another, simpler movie, but is in this one presented as a real but complex and flawed character. She cares for her people and is kind to them as shown by the way she takes in brothel girls and gives them a better life. But she is is also completely merciless to those she feels will try to hurt them as we can see by her dealings with the ambitious Asano clan that lives nearby.

Eboshi is willing to destroy things that are irreplaceable in order to advance her goals, for example her attempts to kill the Forest Spirit. She is also very mistrustful of men, and she looks out first for the women under her care. It would seem that perhaps in the past she has had some sort of experience or other to make her lose faith in the opposite sex, and at the time the story takes place, men would've had much more power and sway in the hierarchy of society. Eboshi seems very aware that the world is unfair (especially towards women) and is willing to go to greater extremes to be the one taking advantage of others rather than the other way around.

The Princess Mononoke of the title, San, however, I suppose one could say is the tree hugging hippie of the group if ever there was one. Her desire to kill Eboshi and destroy the ironworks has shades of the kind of eco-terrorism that is sometimes practiced today (sabotaging plants and drilling stations, putting one's own life and that of others in danger to do so).

She is a complex figure because she is human but sympathizes with and behaves like an animal. As mentioned before, her movements, actions, the way she fights are all have a wild an uncivilized manner to them. Ashitaka tries to appeal to her human side to quell her fury at a few points in the tale; he tells her she's beautiful to disarm her when when she has a knife to his throat, and later, after Eboshi is dismembered, he defends the woman from her and when in the heat of passion she says she hates all humans, he replies "But I'm human, and so are you..."

In the end, San cannot be "turned" or made to change sides. There is no love story between her and Ashitaka (not one that is completed onscreen in the time we see them at least) because doing so would have been a false sort of cop out when examining the true nature of the characters created and their motivations.

The supporting cast of the film also fit familiar roles: Gonza, as the bodyguard who defends Eboshi unconditionally and poses an obstacle to anyone who disagrees with her; Kouroku and his wife Toki as the bumbling and reliable sidekicks, respectively; and finally, Jigo, who in addition to some providing comic relief, also proves to be a very cunning and dangerous adversary when the situation arises.

The ending to the film is left somewhat open to question; to an extent we're left wondering: "What exactly happened at the end? Did the forest spirit survive or die? And what does the future hold with so many of the gods dead and iron town destroyed?"

It is likely that the warlord Asano would try and retaliate on Eboshi for all her slights against him and rebelliousness, but then it also appears he has suffered severe military losses after the flood of Forest Spirit's body washes over his army in waves of widespread death. It is also likely his men would return in shame telling wild stories of what happened that would scare others from approaching Eboshi for some time.

Iron Town would likely be rebuilt though it would take much time to regain what was lost, and it is unlikely the villagers and Eboshi would be so bold or brash this time round.

The forest would recover, as is shown by the final shots of the film, but with the protection of the spirits dwindling down it would be far more vulnerable too. An age of Man's dominance is a trend that began long ago and continues through the events of this film, even to the people of today. In the end, there are no spirits and gods to defend Nature from our hands, it is only our own judgement and restraint that keeps the world we live in healthy and sustainable into the unknown of the future.


Final Thoughts

If there's one common thread throughout all of Miyazaki's work (with the exception of Lupin the 3rd, Cagliostro, which also wasn't a character originally designed by him) it's that he's used the same composer, Joe Hisaishi, who in many ways resembles a Japanese John Williams or James Horner and is known for very sweeping, classical, symphonic scores. In Mononoke, his score is superb, even when compared to his others, and the main theme is immediately recognizable in Japan.

The movie itself has a lot of stylistic elements in common with other Miyazaki works, but then, so do many of his others. Ashitaka's traveling cloak and those of the hunters are very similar to some of the forest cloaks in Nausicaa. The fox cats (not sure if they're really called this) appear in both Nausicaa and Laputa which also had similar technology, the Forest Spirit looks very similar to the shadow form of the emperor's younger brother in Nausicaa. Nausicaa itself, along with The Journey of Shuna share the most similarities to this work, Nausicaa shares the theme of environmental destruction (though believe it or not takes the metaphor to an even greater extreme), and Yakul the red elk appears in Shuna as well. At times it feels like all of Miyazaki's stories take place in the same universe just at very different times.

The first time I saw this film, I drove over three hours out of my hometown when it appeared it would not be playing there. I saw it in a place unfamiliar to me, an artsy theater in LA near Santa Monica. I was surprised at just how many families had come; there were many children in attendance. While the movie does have some blood and violence, and there were occasional gasps of surprise from the audience, there was never any screaming or crying or signs of horror or discomfort to give any indication of it being inappropriate for kids. Instead there was a lot of excitement and surprise, an atmosphere of joy and wonder at what was unfolding onscreen. I remember thinking to myself how great it was that parents would take their children to see something like this which aside from being great for the spread of anime (at the time it was very rare for anime to play in theaters in the US), it was also that what was being watched was not just mindless entertainment but truly thought-provoking, inspirational material that could change and influence a person for the better, especially if viewed from a young age. As for my own thoughts on the film, I remember loving the experience of it so much that I actually wanted to see it again before finishing it the first time. It is without a doubt a film that gets better on repeat viewings, allowing one to see things they didn't notice the first time and appreciate the craftsmanship. It is a film that can change you by watching it, and live with you long after the screen dims.

Film Noir (2007)

It's style over substance in this luridly entertaining animated movie. It boasts black and white visuals with just a little color thrown in for style (think Sin City), tons of classic noir imagery (piles of just smoked cigarettes, 50's style diners, strip clubs), and an amnesiac protag who narrates his own story in a worn down voice that sort of says "Seen it all, heard it all and still don't know what to make of it..." It takes place in LA (largely around Hollywood) and also has a lot of nudity and sex in it, especially for an animated movie. This one is for those who like dark gritty settings and messy complicated plots.


Please note: Entries about media reviewed in this blog are written from the perspective that the reader has already seen the work in question and desires further commentary or explanation. Plot twists and endings will sometimes be examined. Though in the case of this film, I'll try and keep spoilers to a minimum, being that it isn't a major work.

The man wakes up lying in front of the Hollywood sign to find blood on his hands, and a dead man nearby with bullet between his eyes. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. A quick examination reveals that the dead man is a cop, and with no one else around, deduction tells us that our main character is the killer. He flees the scene quickly hearing reports of shots fired on the police radio, driving away in the dead man's car. He cannot find any ID but it's clear that someone wants him dead, and he has no idea who or why. Not knowing who he is, what to do, or even where he is going, he muses to himself: "One thing was for certain, I was the bad guy in this story."There comes a point a while later in the tale, where our main character reasons that if he'd had a choice between being lucky or good, he'd chose lucky every time. I can't help but think this guy really does have that kind of luck too given what happens over the course of the film, and two of the biggest examples occur right towards the beginning. The first of which is when he decides to visit the house of the man he just killed, figuring that at least that guy wouldn't be home, only to find half the police force and the guy's family waiting there to surprise him with a party. Only some quick thinking gets him out of that jam. The second occurs at the office of Sam Rueben, where he's led by one of the few clues he has amongst his possessions in the car. Upon leaving the office after getting the run around by the secretary, he is called by that very same girl who mistakes his voice for Rueben's (it appears he has Rueben's phone, and neither he nor she knew it). "That guy you were looking for was just here" she says. "Who?" "David Hudson, you idiot!" And so now our protagonist has a name, or at least an identity people believe him to be.

We follow the man around as he gets lucky again and again (women he cannot remember want to sleep with him, old accomplices give him help and valuable info/items even though he doesn't know what to do with them right away) and also has several very unlucky encounters (he's chased around and gets beaten up a few times, and even has armed men in a helicopter trying to kill him). "The more I learned about David Hudson, the more I realized what a despicable guy he was." we hear him think at one point. We see him make attempts to change the way the people around him see him and act towards him, as when he refuses to whip and beat a woman who knew him and is an addict to both heroin and S&M. He confides in some, needing at the very least someone to trust him, and conceals himself to others, bluffing about how much he knows to get away again and again. He gets caught by the cops, only to have fate step in again with another strange turn when the men who come to kill him end up inadvertently providing him a chance to escape.It all leads to a safe-deposit box that he at first is unable to get into, and the revelation that the one out to kill him is publicly a well regarded philanthropist but secretly is a corrupt and perverse man who wants what is in that box too, as well our protagonist dead. We also learn that our central character is not who he thinks he is in one very startling scene.

The conclusion to the story comes after the standard fare for this kind of flick: shootouts, deals with the police, recovery of what's in the box. We're told the identity of our central character, though thinking carefully about the reasoning behind it, it has its holes: "Did this guy really not know there'd be risks doing such a thing?" I asked myself immediately after learning who the man really is and why he has the face he does.
The style is really laid on thick in this movie, and done well for the most part, the atmosphere really drips of classic themes mixed with neo-noir elements. The action, however, isn't always handled in a believable manner (the henchman in the helicopter seems dangerous and cool at first, but absolutely defies logic, and seems more of pest by the end of the movie). I was reminded at times of video games I'd played with similar style that were just a little off in execution when compared to their movie counterparts (Max Payne and the GTA series, especially 4). All in all though it does make for a very fun hour and a half of viewing if noir is what you're into.

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Amnesia, it's said, is very uncommon in real life and generally you retain nearly all of your memory, losing only what is most stressful of painful. It generally happens to memories more in the present tense when the person in question is under extraordinary circumstances. Forgetting one's past is extremely rare and I would guess occurs in only those with the most unbearable histories. That we see it so often in films and TV and books and other stories I think has less to do with what I just said, and is instead more a testament to usefulness as a plot device. The idea of losing one's past is intriguing and proves an often irresistible concept to storytellers. While not an overly complex piece of work, Film Noir does allow its lead character a few instances to ponder his existence over the course of the tale. "The problem with having amnesia is that you hold yourself to impossibly high standards. You're like a new-born, a child, a virgin, a clean slate inside, but on the outside you're not, you have a past, have done things, hurt people." Sometimes I wonder if noir itself, as a genre isn't uniquely suited for the element of amnesia. Its stories are often mysteries and when the central character is already in the dark about whodunnit then why give them the added challenge of losing all their memories so that they have to solve that as well? There's also the grimly illuminating idea that were a person to lose their memory they would quickly be seized upon by those willing to use them and take advantage of them -anyone who's seen Memento (another dark noir-like film with an amnesiac hero) will recognize this one. Finally there's just a sort of dreamlike quality to most noir, that comes of having a strange world that doesn't quite feel right, and characters inhabiting it who don't act normal, don't follow the rules. In the world of noir, it feels like no one can be completely believed, nothing is what it seems, and everything is open to suspicion.

Inception

If ever there was a movie that was about the stuff dreams are made of, Inception is it. Like "The Matrix" and "Dark City" it leaves you questioning reality itself. Just walking out the theater I almost question whether I could be dreaming now. The well acted performances, well crafted plot, and well done effects will satisfy those craving action, but its concept of dreams within dreams within more dreams keeps you guessing right until it's masterful end.

Please note: Entries about media reviewed in this blog are written from the perspective that the reader has already seen the work in question and desires further commentary or explanation. Plot twists and endings will sometimes be examined.

The movie opens with a scene it'll return to later. We see the main character of our story Dom Cobb (Leonardo Di Caprio) washed up on a beach where he's found and then taken to an elderly Japanese man. Looking only at a metallic top which aside from his firearm was the only thing Cobb had on him, the old man seems to remember him. Then we skip away to another time and place entirely.

Cobb and his associate Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are making a pitch to a Japanese man named Saito (Ken Watanabe) about how even one's thoughts and dreams and memories are no longer secure. Cobb is trying to sell his services as one who can help train Saito to guard and protect his own mind. Saito is reluctant, however, and says he'll take the night to think about it. We then see from a conversation between Cobb and Arthur that the two of them are actually thieves of some kind attempting to get at one of Saito's secrets, but when Cobb decides to try and steal them directly out of Saito's vault he is thwarted by Mal (Marion Cotillard who recently appeared in Public Enemies opposite Johnny Depp) a woman he apparently knows and cannot completely trust.

It is revealed that all we've seen is actually the inside of a shared dream in which the characters can connect to one another and control things to a certain degree thanks to a new piece of technology (I don't think the device is ever actually named in the movie). Cobb and his associates were attempting to literally steal secrets out of Saito's mind, the very thing he had actually been warning the man to beware of in the dream. Outside a riot brewing in the streets threatens to put all their lives in danger and Cobb and his men try using the encroaching danger as a reason to get Saito to divulge his secret. This too turns out to be a ruse, one that Saito is able to see through due to an imperfect detail in the room, and one of the first of the movie's secrets to be revealed to us as well: we are actually seeing a dream within a dream, such a thing is possible in this world.

Their job failed, Cobb and his men decide to leave Saito and begin to split up. He alludes at heading to South America to lay low until new work can be found, but is instead confronted suddenly by Saito who catches up to them and then offers Cobb a chance to return to the USA. The job is to acquire a specific target, enter their mind and rather than learn a secret of theirs, instead plant a thought or idea and consequently influence them to do something they wouldn't otherwise. The process of getting secrets by entering dreams we learn is called "extraction", and the characters seem somewhat familiar with it. This new procedure of planting a thought in an individual is called "inception" and it is thought to be impossible by Arthur, though Cobb says otherwise, confessing he has actually been able to accomplish it once before.

It is explained that Cobb has been basically exiled from the US when he went on the run after the death of Mal (who we now find out was his wife). Wanting more than anything else to see his children, who are still in the US, and therefore separated from him, Cobb decides to take the job despite the difficulties and dangers involved.

Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy) is the man Saito wants to acquire. His father is the head of a "communications superpower" and apparently is on his deathbed, with junior standing to inherit everything. Saito, recognizing he can no longer compete against this rival company, wants Cobb to implant the idea to break apart his father's company inside Robert's head. To do so, Cobb assembles a team that includes amongst others, a chemist to keep them all sedated for longer, a master of disguise, and an "architect" named Ariadne (Ellen Page) to build the dreams they'll inhabit. Ariadne, over the course of the film gets much closer to Cobb than the others and discovers several important things about him. One is that his "totem" (a device whose physics and qualities only they know and can use to tell if they're in a dream or not), is actually one he acquired from Mal, a metal top (the same he had on him in the opening sequence) which will not stop spinning once started. One is that he keeps several haunting memories of his past "locked away" within his mind. One is that he cannot seem to remember his childrens' faces or bear to look upon them in his dreams (though he constantly sees their backs facing him in odd places when he does enter one). This is a result of his regret at leaving them to flee after Mal's death. More importantly than anything else, Ariadne learns that Mal sort of lives on within Cobb's subconscious and that she occasionally shows up in dreams he enters and screws things up. She's kind of like that horrible seed of doubt that exists inside us all and innerly makes us think we might be sabotaging our own chances to succeed.

Mal is something of a frightening presence in the film. In the first dream sequence we see her not only expose Cobb when he tries to rob Saito, but also begin to torture Arthur. Later when she appears in something of a tutorial Cobb is using to teach Ariadne, she shows up and physically attacks her as well. The plan, we learn, is something of extreme difficulty requiring multiple dreams within dreams, and the danger that Mal could appear at any time to menace the team hangs over their heads at all times. Ariadne agrees not to reveal Cobb's secret if only he allows her to come along with him to keep him and the others safe.

The team intercepts Robert on a plane and drugs him, then enters his dream. From the moment it starts, things begin to go awry. We learn that Robert has had some training or safeguards placed in his mind to keep him safe from people like Cobb and his group, and as a consequence, people in Robert's dreams will become suspicious of and violent towards them very quickly. Saito, who has come along to help and make sure his investment is secure, is shot very shortly after they enter, and his wound threatens not only the group's ability, but also Cobb's security in the US as all depends on Saito making a phone call once everything has been fulfilled. How real the danger of this particular dream is, is also made plain very early. Dying in this dream will not cause one to wake up but instead slip into the "limbo" of an unconscious coma, perhaps never to wake up.

The plot to this film is absolutely labyrinthine and twists upon itself again and again. The long extended dream sequence wherein the team tries its inception on Robert is the centerpiece for the film's many effects and plot twists. In addition to the gravity defying action there is also the psychological tension of whether or not the team will be able to effectively read Robert's mind (specifically the relationship he has with his father) and change it to make him break apart the company.

Generally when we dream, we succumb to the influence of our subconscious, believing all we see and getting carried away by more fantastical elements of our imaginations made real. The characters in this film don't act that way when they enter dreams, though it isn't made entirely clear if this is because of the machine or their skill at navigating this type of mindscape (I suspect it's a little of both). It is mentioned that the longer they remain in the dream, the greater the danger they lose their minds, believing it all to be true.

We learn at one point that certain rules are in place for the dream world we are entering. Hearing music and feeling the effects of gravity (the sensation of falling) in the real world and having it affect the dream are things the viewer may already have known about from dreams of their own, while some other elements appear to be made up, such as the passage of time being much longer within each level of dreams within dreams and the destructive effect we see when the subject learns they are in a dream. And while the perception of falling gives the film its greatest action sequences (a series of fights in a hotel hall way where gravity literally changes in real time) I also can't help but wonder if director Chris Nolan has used something of cheat here as well, given that we're also told that tipping over a person will still wake them up despite the effects of the sedative. The van sequence in particular has several points where the vehicle appears to fall or tip or flip over, but only when the plot demands it does it appear our characters will awaken from it.

Late in the film we learn the secret of Cobb and Mal. It turns out that the past success Cobb had at inception was upon Mal herself and that he got her to believe they were in a dream after they had spent too long within one and she had become deluded into believing it was authentic. The idea took root, too well perhaps, and she became convinced the real world was an illusion as well, in the end taking her own life to try and wake up. The whole ordeal has haunted Cobb and he seems to actually want her to continue to exist - in his own mind and dreams if nowhere else. When she shows up to ruin the plans of the team, he is forced to jump still one layer further into the dreams to confront her for himself. He does do so, and puts her to rest for good, finally acknowledging she is but a shadow of the actual woman he knew.

While the inception appears to be a success, the ending of the film is purposely left open to speculation. The final events of the film happen quickly and appear to lack a definite beginning or end (which it was mentioned earlier in the film are often indicators of being in a dream). Cobb stays behind when everyone else leaves knowing he has to find and rescue Saito so he can make the important call for him to enter the US. It is revealed that the elderly Japanese man Cobb meets in the beginning of the film is indeed Saito. He appears to have grown old, buried within the stratum of dreams upon dreams after passing out injured on their mission. Though we see details like Saito making the call and Cobb getting into the US, we never see exactly how the characters wake up or how the machine is cleared away so Robert will not become suspicious. I half expected him to quote Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz by the time he woke up: "I had the weirdest dream just now. And you were there, and you were there too, and... and... you too!"

When Cobb makes it to his kids he suspects he's in a dream still and spins the top on a table. But just then his kids turn around putting his doubts to rest and he leaves it as it continues to spin there for a strangely long amount of time. It appears to skip and slow a few times but continues to go... And then the movie cuts to black before we see if it stops or not, leaving the final interpretation up to us, the perfect ending in my opinion.

Whether or not Cobb is still dreaming, we know that when it comes down to it his mind has been put to ease at long last regarding Mal and that he can now look upon his kids and be with them again. Whether reality or not, his soul has finally found peace. If it is indeed all a fantasy he's better off not knowing and at least fading off into a happy and blissful delusion rather than one of torment.

Changing Lanes

The two men crash on a freeway interpass, a minor collision that isn't really either one's fault, but ends with a disagreement and later an animosity that will cause each to try and get revenge. And so a day begins where both men bring themselves to do ever increasingly reprehensible acts all in the name of evening the score. When the day finally ends both men are more shocked than ever at what has transpired and their own parts in it. Lines have been crossed that shouldn't have been. The civilized manner we are accustomed to treating others and being treated in ourselves has managed to completely break down over the course of one day in perverse reinterpretation of the golden rule.

Please note: Entries about media reviewed in this blog are written from the perspective that the reader has already seen the work in question and desires further commentary or explanation. Plot twists and endings will sometimes be examined.

We are introduced to our two main protagonists in some brief scenes showing them getting ready for big events. Both men are at important junctures in their lives, although they are very different people. Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck in possibly his best role) is a Wall Street lawyer making a speech praising a recently deceased business man. Outside when he attempts to speak with the dead man's daughter we see only hatred for him in her words; Banek has obtained a power of appointment from the man on his deathbed, putting his foundation in the hands of Banek's firm, and she is suing him over it - stating the old man didn't know what he signed. Doyle Gipson (Samuel L. Jackson) has just put down the money on a small house, hoping it'll be enough to sway his wife to reconciliation; she is considering moving out of state and taking their two young boys with her and he is desperate to prevent that. Shortly after closing the discussion on the house, we see him speaking out in jubilation at an AA meeting, happy at his prospects of succeeding with this piece in place.

The aforementioned accident takes place with both men on their way to court: Banek on his way to present documents (most importantly to show the power of appointment), Gipson to make his case to a judge in a hearing for why his wife shouldn't be allowed to take his boys away from him. Both men are in a hurry and running late and, as mentioned earlier, neither is entirely to blame for the collision. The accident leaves incongruent results, however, as Gipson's car is immobilized, but Banek's isn't. Faced with becoming even more late, Banek makes things worse by not "doing this the right way" (to use Gipson's words) and simply writing a blank check believing that will make the problem go away so he can get on with his day. He completely dismisses the idea that Gipson could have something important to do as well, and leaves him, against his protests, stranded on the freeway alone, saying only "Better luck next time!" as he rides off.

At the courthouse, Banek arrives, a little, but not too late to present his papers, only to discover he doesn't have the power of appointment document. In his haste to flee the scene of the accident, he's left it with Gipson. Though copies of it exist, he's told by the judge that the actual copy with the real signature is needed, and that he might even face criminal charges if it isn't produced. Gipson, on the other hand, arrives in court late and discovers, in his absence, he has lost, even despite his best efforts and obtaining a house. It gets me how the movie up to this point alone could actually have made an interesting short film (albeit one with a very grim and dismal outlook on things). It's aggravating to watch in many ways (especially given what occurs later), and though it isn't stated outright in the film, what makes it all the worse, is that I think both men were actually on their way to the same courthouse and if so, could've bypassed all the subsequent problems.

Banek is having a sort of crisis of conscience. He's been having an affair with his assistant (Toni Collette), which he feels guilty about. He knows on a certain level that what he did to obtain the power of appointment was unethical, that the dying man didn't know what he was signing. He knows on some level too, we sense, that his bosses, headed by his father-in-law Delano (Sydney Pollack), have very selfish desires for the non-profit foundation they'll gain with this power of appointment. He sets off a fire alarm to get Delano (and everyone else in the office) out of the building so he can see what they have planned for it and (in a scene I whose composure I really enjoyed), ends with him and his assistant huddled together outside knowing he is neck deep in an absolute mess - his bosses do indeed plan to rob the newly acquired non-profit. Faced with criminal charges on the one hand and unethical choices on the other, Banek is challenged by Gipson who taunts him with the words "Better luck next time!" on a page from the power of appointment that he faxes to Banek. Gipson is very much a hot-headed character, who acts and reacts in absolute anger without thought sometimes. In his sadness and anger, he at one point enters a bar and orders a drink (breaking his AA oath), and then provokes a fight without even taking a drink. The words "Two wrongs don't make a right" would likely be answered by him with "Yeah, but they make it even", and Gipson isn't the type who just gets mad, he gets even. Banek responds to the taunt by finding a hacker to shut down Gipson's credit, right in the midst of his attempts to finance a house.

Then comes an absolutely stunning scene in a restaurant with Amanda Peet as Banek's wife as she quietly tells him of an affair her father had that her mother knew about, but didn't respond to. "She felt that it would be unfair to criticize a man for cheating while living comfortably off of him, when his whole job was to basically to be a cheater in business." She tells him that she knows of his affair with his assistant and his troubles with the document. "I could've married an honest man, but I didn't. I married a Wall Street lawyer, a man like my father... Men like him, at his level of the game... What do you think the laws mean to men like him? It's a dog eat dog world, and you have to do what you have to to survive. We're on the edge, can you come out there and live there with me?" Banek is moved by what she has to say until she reveals that the whole conversation has been move by her father to convince him to go along, and the meeting ends unresolved.
As the day goes on, things escalate to even more extreme lows. After it looks like Gipson will cooperate with him, Banek discovers it's not so easy to turn a man's credit back on as it is off. In retaliation, Gipson loosens a tire on Banek's car and the resulting accident, which nearly kills him, leaves him stranded on the freeway (shellshocked he walks right past where Gipson's car still rests on the exit divide). Banek then sets up a situation that ends with Gipson being dragged away from his children in tears from their school, scared for their safety.

Gipson's wife (Kim Staunton) meets him at the holding cells. We sense that she does still love and care for him despite the decisions she appears poised to make. For all her disappointment, she has shown some moments of understanding and even a willingness to give him a second chance a few times throughout the day. Though she has been legally given the power to leave him, it has until this point in the film remained a question as to whether she would or not. As she speaks to him through the iron bars, however, there is nothing but seething anger at him. "Whatever drama you've gotten yourself into, it's just the kind of thing that always happens to you! And it never happens to me unless I'm in your field of gravity!" He gets no sympathy from his AA sponsor (William Hurt) either, when he shows up to bail him out and hears his excuses. "What you learned today is that, this, what you see, everything around us that we live in is held in place by a fragile pact not to go completely bat shit!!! So what if you didn't have a drink?! You broke the covenant! Booze was never your choice of drug anyways, you're addicted to chaos!"
The day ends quietly with a couple of conversations. First between Banek and Delano, who went ahead and forged a new power of appointment document and submitted it without Banek's knowledge. When questioned about how he can live with such sickening behavior, Delano even goes so far as to say he actually believes he does more good than bad. Then comes a final conversation in Banek's office between him and Gipson, after a day in which the two men have completely wrecked each other's lives. There isn't a whole bunch of yelling like one might expect of such a confrontation, instead it is quiet and reflective and we can see from their faces, hear from their voices that both men are completely ashamed of themselves, more than mad at each other. In a strange parable, Baneck mulls over the idea that he's lost whatever chance there might once have been to turn around and live an honest profession, but instead has chosen to wade deeper and deeper into murkier waters. "You go deeper into the ocean and it's freezing and painful and there's a beautiful girl on the shore looking at you and you just know if you went back out and left with her instead you'd live happily together forever, but you don't... instead you keep going into the water... today... today is that girl..." Gipson returns Baneck's document and leaves, well aware of what the other man has lost as well as himself.The conclusion to the story comes when Banek shows Delano the document at dinner later that night and tells him that if he doesn't straighten out and allow the non-profit foundation to keep its money, he's going to show the real document to a judge exposing Delano's as a fake. He also tells him that he intends to help Gipson buy a house for his family, showing his desire to reconcile what he's done. He turns to his wife and says simply: "I found my edge, can you come here and live here with me?"

* * *

Lanes and lines and edges and boundaries figure very prominently into the symbolism of this tale. Both men will find their limits over the course of the film and if the viewer watches carefully, so too will they through these characters and events. What could've been a very depressing end is turned around somewhat by the characters' ultimate decisions to do what they have to to make things right. What could've felt like a very tacked on sort of happy ending is instead saved by the realization that these men would very much have a reason to begin behaving in a better manner towards one another.

How much of what occurred was unavoidable? Could it have been turned around right from the very start? Couldn't it have been stopped at any point along the way by simply stopping to apologize or accepting the other man's apology? I mentioned earlier the frustration that occurs at the very idea that the two men might even have been going to the same place (a piece of irony I think was intentionally placed in the story to heighten the inanity of it all). The Burkean cycle of guilt and shame says that there are only two ways we can respond to something bad happening, something that leaves us feeling guilty in one sense or another. Pretty much every response fits under either blame or mortification. Blaming or scapegoating others alleviates the shame we feel by allowing us to put it on someone else. Mortification on the other hand is an act of self reproach, asking oneself how they could behave differently to resolve things. One can see from this film exactly which choice is being taken again and again and how such choices only seem to come back around again and again as each man tries to even the score.

Perhaps the two men could've gone the whole day without the accident occurring, but what then? The story shows us clearly what problems these men both have in their lives even before the events we see take place. If Banek had made it to court on time and presented his papers without a hitch, he might just have continued down the path he was already going, sweeping his conscience to the back of his head and slowly becoming more like the cheats his father-in-law resembles. And what if Gipson had convinced his wife to stay, without the problems he encountered? Given his alcoholism and tendency to flip out and do something crazy, it's every bit as likely he'd have continued to screw up until he did so big and irreversibly sometime in the future. It strikes me that for all the negative things we watch occur, the story presented in this film is in reality one of hope, given the possibility we actually learn from our mistakes. It's the kind of film that can actually make a difference on our lives if we watch it carefully, observe, and learn from the mistakes we see onscreen.