Tekkon Kinkreet

Coming from the dream combination of the emphatically cool Studio 4C and much admired manga-ka Taiyou 'Ping Pong' Matsumoto, Tekkonkinkreet is a movie I've long waited to see. Based on those two names alone, you should expect several things - let's start with moody and stylish visuals; almost-surreal art that gleefully shuns fan-pandering anime conventions and embraces the meaning of creative freedom, and then there is Matsumoto's dazzling talent for empathetic story telling; his subtle use of natural dialogue and eccentric body language that's clearly intent on plumbing the darkest depths of the human soul.

Tekkonkinkreet is also known as Black and White, and so named ... are the two main characters; both being delinquent street kids who live out of a rusty old used car in the concrete city-scape Treasure Town. Despite being mere children, their gang, the (stray) Cats, dominate the violent underbelly of Treasure Town's yuppie society, their attentions feared by thugs, police and yakuza alike. As is immediately clear, Black and White aren't normal kids at all; for a start, they can fly, but mostly, they are defined by their emotional eccentricities.

Black is just that; a black-hearted, blood thirsty thug who is constantly looking for a fight; his attraction to violence borders on sadism and often he can be seen with a giant crow perched on his shoulder, the meat-eating birds that feed off of human garbage aptly symbolizing his pessimistic views on life. His snot-nosed buddy White is the exact opposite; optimistic, innocent and constantly laughing, he has dreams of a future outside of Treasure Town; a vision of rolling blue seas and sparkling golden sand. Black and White live for each other; Black protects White from the city's violent undercurrents, while White's very existence anchors Black's true departure into darkness.

The plot is simply a means to that end, and quite frankly, isn't so important. Treasure Town is being steam-rollered by an unscrupulous theme park franchise and hence, they need to get rid of the tourist-scaring delinquent kids. Unfortunately for them, Black sees the city as his town too, and his unrelenting intent on causing trouble begins what is a gradual descent into violent madness. The heart-rending characterisation extends to an entire cast of misfits, not least of all a scar-faced ex-yakuza struggling against the tide of violence to forge a better future for his pregnant girlfriend. Early in the movie, this same yakuza shows his professional streak when he gleefully removes the ears from one unlucky fellow.

The tragic and emotionally intense characterisation is well balanced by extended sequences of brutal and kinetic action, not least of all an Akira style opening scene that sees Black and White chasing a group of rival punks across colourful roof-tops and moving traffic. The gravity defying jumps, flips and kicks are well complemented by an emotive electronica score courtesy of British dance group Plaid. Of special note is that the music really captures the beautiful and surreal elements of Tekkonkinkreet, whimsical dreams of a flower-laden future totally at odds with Treasure Town's overflowing urban metropolis.

A truly three dimensional effort; the excellent Tekkonkinkreet is a rewarding and exciting movie that offers bitter-sweet moments of friendship and family, morals and loyalty, set in an unrelentingly violent and cruel world dominated by industry and capitalism. Animated with beautiful perfection and stylized to the point of surrealism, it's a great looking film that both exploits and cherishes the inherent contradictions of the human spirit.

The movie starts off strong, with an interesting but not quite unique story of two street orphans, forced to protect the town that simultaneously sustains them, and abuses them. They are the protectors and protected by the system that has been created between the gangs, the police, and the Yakuza who roam Treasure town. And like their names designate, Black is harsher, rougher, more prone to violence, while White is up beat, cute, and creative. They complement each other and balance the others eccentricities. With fabulous animation, strong voice acting (at least in the Japanese), and a solid score, this movie ... ambles along enjoyably, until the more surreal aspects of the story kick in.

About halfway through, the movie shifts from two kids trying to protect their home turf from new developers/gangsters into a surreal melodrama about the spiritual separation of the two leads and the physical manifestations of the separation. From Kubrick-esque extra-dimensional visuals, to metaphorical, and not so metaphorical battles in the hyper-reality in to which they are dragged kicking and screaming. And to me that's when it loses steam. It changes from a well grounded story with characters we want to follow into meandering esoteric romp with little but very obvious conclusions that occur between the two leads, while killing off any loose ends and characters that seemed so promising in the start of the film.

Flights of fancy, and beautiful animation aside, the film doesn't quiet hold up towards the end.

Tekkonkinkreet is a film from Studio four degrees Celsius. A studio that I have watched nothing whatsoever from but have heard of a lot of their work. I'm not sure if this is a good introduction to them or not so feel free to enlighten me about how typical of their work it is.

The story is pretty simple. Two orphaned boys, Black and White, claim control over a small town and that's when the Yakuza try to muscle their way in. It probably sounds like more happens than actually happens. The film's biggest problem is that it's tedious. Really, really tedious. There are long ... stretches where nothing of interest or relevance happens. Then there are story segments that drag on far longer than they need to and some of the worst action sequences I've ever seen. Seriously, those scenes that aren't over within seconds are padded with the characters running away from each other. The longest action sequence involves Black and White running away from a huge assassin who could've killed them both with ease if he wasn't the slowest person on the planet when it comes to unsheathing his blade. Seriously, it takes him a good minute to get around to it. There are some less pressing issues, there are some side-story plots that don't go anywhere or that receive very rushed and unsatisfying conclusions. The entire ending is rushed, for that matter, and pretty lazily done.

The characters in this are dull and one-dimensional. The villains are evil for the sake of being evil. Black and White are pretty clearly supposed to have a symbolic as well as a literal connection, but the symbolic connection is really over-stated. That type of thing just isn't interesting when they beat you over the head with it. And they're too one-dimensional to make them interesting aside from that connection so it's just unsatisfying to watch. The side characters are barely worth talking about. Most of them just represent very shallow stereotypes like the gangster seeking redemption or the elderly mentor.

The art... Well, I have to split it into two categories. The backgrounds are decently done with some good details. The characters look terrible. Their proportions are way off and not in a good, stylized way and their faces just look bizarre.

The voice acting is pretty emotionless. The actors mostly sound like they're reading the script instead of, well, acting. I'm not sure whether to blame the direction or the actors themselves for that one. Either way it doesn't sound good. The music does little to help with the tedium, generally blending into the background noise.

The yuri factor is a 1/10. There's no yuri here.

My final rating for Tekkonkinkreet is a 3/10. I really can't recommend it to anyone unless you're having trouble sleeping. I almost fell asleep several times while watching it so it just might be good for that.