Image credit: Wikipedia |
Having just
finished this movie I don’t think any dystopian, science fiction flick even
comes close to rivaling the incredible devastation and annihilation of the
Apocalypse! Despite being thirty years old, Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira still proves to be an intense
experience for the senses as well as the analytical side of the brain.
Truthfully, ‘intense’ is an understatement.
Set in the dirty,
decaying city of Neo-Tokyo –so named after the original Tokyo was destroyed in
World War III- the film chronicles the struggles of Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) when
his best friend suddenly develops terrifying telekinetic powers that could
destroy hundreds. As Tetsuo becomes consumed and goes on an unstoppable
warpath, Kaneda joins a gang of antigovernment terrorists in their search for
the mysterious Akira – a telepath even more powerful than Tetsuo.
The cleverest
thing about this movie is its links between the apocalypse and adolescence. The
‘world gone mad’ that is Neo-Tokyo – a genetic splice between Mad Max and Blade Runner- is characterised by a decaying society peopled with
activists, the military, and angry rebellious teens. Violence and frustration
is the norm so you can imagine how intense it gets to be when a repressed and
angry teenager develops powers that take out the city. A delicious
sense of doom and gloom peppered with distaste for your fellow man constantly
hangs over the film, leaving you hopeless and repulsed but unable to leave your
seat.
The crisp
animation only heightens this filmic experience, sparing no one from the
violence, destruction, and absolute horror that grip the world. The brightest
colours in the paint box are yellow, orange, and red and they are used
constantly to light up the city and bring it to the ground. The apocalyptic
setting and continual bouts of city-wide destruction cleanly and horribly
reference the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War
II as well as explore concurrent themes attached including malaise and social
collapse.
Image credit: Boston Hassle |
The paranormal
theme running alongside the prevalent themes of social decline and enraged
youth makes it extraordinarily disturbing. I’m seriously going to have
nightmares about that climax! And because it’s animated there’s this extra
sense of the macabre and the horrific as things happen to people that could not
possibly be done in a live-action movie, cementing the film’s position in movie
history!
Starring: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozumo Sasaki, Mami Koyama,
Tessho Genda, Hiroshi Otake, Koichi Kitamura, Michihiro Ikemizu, Yuriko
Fuchizaki, Masaaki Okura, Taro Arakawa, Takeshi Kusao, Kazumi Tanaka, Masayuki
Kato, Yosuke Akimoto, and Masato Hirano
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