Sep 27, 2023
(i spoil the events of this film and the original show in this review, discretion advised)
i got into Gamba No Bouken recently, and was incredibly impacted by the 1975 show, its become a favorite of mine very quickly and so me and my friends decided that we would watch this movie as a bookend to our viewing. this movie seems practically unknown, at least in the west, going purely by how hard it was to find it or any information on it online. what ended up saving me was a copy posted on a Portuguese fansubber blog and a google-translated version of that blogger's
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subtitle track that someone had kindly made with some alterations to make it more legible. not perfect obviously, there were some rough spots but i believe i got the gist, at least enough to have quite a lot of feelings about the movie. i would have happily watched a completely unsubbed version anyway, let alone 1440x1080 with perfectly serviceable english subs.
the thing that really struck me about this movie out of the gate was the upgrade in animation quality. gamba with theatrical animation is an incredibly satisfying thing to see. a particularly incredible part was the animation of the wild dog's leader, a specific shot of him running down a mineshaft. it was a genuine masterpiece of a shot, and it completely took my breath away. the colors were also beautiful. theyre very saturated, much more then the original show, but they shift in almost every lighting condition in really understated but beautiful ways. they play with lighting conditions quite a lot, one great moment i can remember is when Nagisa slaps another mouse out of the shade underneath a rock, and into the harsh white sunlight, and the transition from dark to blinding light is highlighted in a short slo-mo sequence. it worked as a great metaphorical moment too, bringing the traitors true colors "into the light." theres visual flair in so many aspects, the water is done extremely well, the backgrounds are gorgeous and vibrant and full of human touch. they maybe arent as gorgeous as the incredible background work in the original show by the late Shichiro Kobayashi however, the simple masterpieces that fill every episode with the tactile texture of paper and the smell of alcohol markers. the beauty of the natural world in this film is well-conveyed however, and it benefits the environmentalist themes of the film. the only technical aspect which i feel was a downgrade was the sound design. it just clearly didnt have as much thought put into it as other aspects, it can be funny sometimes when a serious scene is going down, and the characters each jump into a hiding space, and out comes the distinct sound of 7 cartoon bananas being tossed into the air.
i want to talk here about the story and themes. the movies status as a reunion is placed at center stage from the beginning, and it actually succeeds in that sense incredibly well. the choice to have them all separated at the beginning initially seemed off, but its because we watched the film directly after finishing the show, without the gap in between 1975 and 1991. in that context, the audience would be having their reunion alongside the characters, and i think it was done in as genuine and un-cynical a way as possible. the rest of the story fits more broadly into this framing as a reunion. a reunion with the entire show itself. i think it would be easy to call this movie a rehash without much originality, the bare-bones plot details will seem very familiar if you have seen the show. but its a re-introduction in the same way the characters have been re-introduced. the same, but poetically re-framed. the distance between the two texts in time separate them more then the sequential viewing can convey, but the way the movie plays with time is still very interesting to think about. the extinction of the japanese otter and the 90's environmentalist movement both effect the narrative of the movie in large ways, and in general, the actions of humans are given more of a spotlight then in the show, where they're not much more then wide, hulking giants without color or differentiation. in the show, their actions are almost never mentioned beyond when they are actively threatening the lives of the cast, but in the film, the actions, or rather inaction of humans are the cornerstone of the movies most major theme: apathy.
In the original show, Noroi the white weasel kills thousands of mice simply because he believes himself to be superior, and wants to prove it. theres something incredibly anti-colonial about the ending, that what ended up saving the mice was a song that the island mice culture remembered and passed along for generations and generations. noroi failed to eradicate the mice, but this film takes the theme of colonial violence and examines it with a modern context. the bird, Kimagure is the modern Noroi, i dont think it's a coincidence that theyre both colored stark white. rather then actively violent, kimagure inflicts violence through inaction, like the humans, who with their heads so high, barely notice the effects theyre having on the ground below. kimagure, like noroi, has a serious superiority complex, she acts as if the mice below are stupid for not flying like she can. she visits them in many moments of distress, when she could easily help, but uses the weak excuse that she only follows the wind. she didnt ask to be here, so she can take no responsibility, or so she says. obviously, her behavior mirrors the response from those humans lucky enough not to be at risk of being killed by police, drowned in floods caused by climate change, or impoverished to the point of starvation. colonizing forces that once used physical violence now claim no responsibility for the ruin they caused, and instead of taking on the hard task of dismantling the overwhelming power of the oppressors, those with more power who experience the effects of that violence direct their anger and dissatisfaction at those already the most at risk. the cycle of violence itself is given shape in the film, voiced by the son of noroi's VA in fact. the wild dog leader, who was abused by humans and directs his anger towards the mice and otters. in the end, gamba forces kimagure into revealing that her apathy has limits. he jumps off the side of a tall bridge, and she catches him, proving that the wind really never had anything to do with it at all. carrying gamba on her back, she flies to where gamba's friends are fighting the wild dog leader, and collides, puncturing his eye with her beak. he swipes and injures her badly. it was fear that kept her so detached, fear that she would be hurt just like the mice had been, and she was. in the same way noroi killed his own henchmen for soiling his "perfect whiteness," the ones who can stay comfortably detached are no less capable of being caught in the cycle of violence if they choose to care. but if you want to fight it, you have to stare it in the eye.
the movie is unfortunately a bit too short to really land these themes in the way the show was able to do so triumphantly. the cycle is still continuing, the japanese otter has been declared extinct. its a bit depressing to think about. but the film is still a delight, its gamba by way of fern gully! they play the most adorably 90's anthem ive ever heard as the credits roll. its hopeful, and its not like the message is any less relevant today despite the endearingly dated nature of its delivery. id definitely recommend it to gamba fans, if you can find it of course! thats not all there is to say, i could gush about the original show for hours, but its all ill say for now.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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