Casshern

My goodness, I really don't know where to start with this film. It looked great in the trailers...

First off I understand what the filmmakers were trying to say - anti-war, anti-playing with genes, anti-lots of things, but unfortunately these intentions are marred by ponderous, drawn out and pretentious dialogue. Fair enough, a lot of Japanese movies (that I've seen) have a bit of this in it (along with those REALLY annoying unfinished sentences), but in this case it was so relentless that I almost cried from boredom.

From the marketing and the tag lines and the trailers I had expected a decent, fresh looking action flick but instead I got a somewhat political film that tried to make a point about human existence, and personally I don't believe that this is the right kind of movie to make this kind of statement. As I say, I get what they're trying to say, but I remain disappointed at the vehicle for it.

Other problems - things intercut and jump about so often that getting confused is far too easy. The music is also relentlessly playing ALL THE WAY through the film (save for a few pauses). Perhaps this might have been OK had it not been so repetitive in style. The film is also far too long. Considerable lack of character - all I remember after watching it are faces, no characters.

Good things - very new look for a start. The CG is used to great effect to construct the environment in this world although it can be a little overbearing at times. Regarding the action, when it gets going it really gets going (although this was far too infrequent for me). The point the movie is trying to make is also quite potent - it's probably better to watch it to get the point rather than me telling you, but it is quite an arduous task.

All in all - overlong, relentlessly pretentiously scripted, absent of character, gratingly scored yet with an interesting point to make and an original aesthetic to show off with all too sporadic action scenes which were, let's face it, what most of us came to the show to see after seeing trailers etc. I spent £7 on the DVD after waiting for ages for the price to come down, and personally I would like that £7 back.

6/10

After reading the comments on IMDb I was second guessing getting the DVD. It was getting average scores, and many complained about the lack of action. I actually went into this film expecting some nice effects and that's about it...

Luckily I was wrong. The story was actually pretty entertaining. There were a couple of minor points I would have liked more information on, but living in North America I'm used to brainless plots because of Hollywood. In the end I thought the story was more than acceptable, and shouldn't cause anyone to pass by this film. It was the best attempt (at least it my eyes) thus far in creating an Anime movie with real actors.

I've been an avid fan of Asian cinema for a little over eight years now. I've seen a lot of good films, and a lot of bad ones. This is one of the good ones, and I hope people take time to view this film.

It's really a shame that crap like Azumi can score a 7.5 or higher on here, and something as beautiful and jaw dropping as this gets a lower score.

I saw "Casshern" yesterday at a packed theater and I was blown away. I went in looking for a black-and-white head-busting superhero flick, but I got a lot more than I bargained for.

First off, the photography is gorgeous--as director, cinematographer, and editor Kazuaki Kiriya makes excellent use of color and grain in his film. At times it's a fuzzy, glowing dream, while at others it's stark, black-and-white sandpaper on your brain. It's an ingenious device to change the mood of the film instantaneously.

There are hints of any number of films here--Metropolis, Frankenstein, Mononoke Hime, Terminator, Tetsuo--and yet the film definitely stands on its own. By no means a slavish adaption of the original animated series, it does contain a number of nods to elements of the original that fans will surely recognize (I leave it to other viewers to catch these for themselves). I was particularly impressed by the first appearance of Luna, who looks like she stepped out of a painting by Tatsunoko alumnus Yoshitaka Amano in that scene.

The action scenes are backed by a driving rock score which reminded me of "The Crow" for some reason. Hardcore action fans who are hoping for a "Matrix Reloaded" bumper-to-bumper slugfest will be sorely disappointed, though. The fight scenes actually run counter to the message of the film--that, as one character states, "War makes humans inhuman." There is a long tradition in Japanese fiction--and animation, in particular--of the hero becoming what he hates to triumph over his enemy. The perfect example of this is Devilman, who becomes a demon to do battle with other demons. There is also a saying in Japan, "kokoro wo oni ni suru" or "steel your heart with resolve," and "Casshern" proves that some decisions will indeed set us on the road to having the hardened heart of a demon. In the end, most conflicts can never be won--even if you win, you lose, as you have more than likely sown the seeds for the next conflict.

I have no idea how foreign audiences will take to the message in this film, but I could hear a number of people crying in the darkness around me, and the crowd was uncharacteristically silent as they left the theater. As a translator, I hope this gets the treatment it deserves when it gets subtitled--the dialog isn't particularly difficult for those with a moderate knowledge of Japanese, and there are vast stretches of film with no dialog at all, but there are also a number of nuances that might be lost. The omnipresent Chinese and Cyrillic characters of the Asian Federation create an oppressive mood that'll be difficult to convey--the nearest example I can think of is the subliminal messages in John Carpenter's "They Live." Some of the other devices used in the film, such as multiple voices repeating portentous words "You don't know what war's like," might also be difficult to convey with normal subtitling. Nevertheless, I hope to see this film made available to a larger audience soon.

Casshern sacrifices narrative continuity in favour of aesthetic grandeur. Kazuaki Kiriya made his feature debut with Casshern and had previously devoted his time to music videos, the influence was overbearing. Soundtrack motifs played in crescendo to action sequences throughout the film, intense colour and CGI made the film visually intense but shot to shot and scene to scene continuity suffered. I found it difficult to follow the story often lost in a mess of fragmented shots and incoherent animations. The plot itself was no linear transgression of events, the film resolves instead on a message rather than a resolution. Kiriya places emphasis upon metaphor rather than storytelling which is unusual. Hollywood fans like myself will probably find the film too messy to deal with, Casshern leaves many loose ends which some may find intriguing. Casshern does offer stunning visuals with big budget action sequences and fresh looking CGI. For die hard 'Art film' fans, the film was so enigmatic and metaphorical, fans of narrative cinema like myself may fall asleep!

Having received my copy of Casshern from CD-wow today,my thoughts were to hang on till the weekend to view this movie!But for some reason,my thoughts were telling me to watch it NOW,Tonight never mind the weekend and my god how right was i to trust them.I cant think of any film in my 20yrs+ of movie watching that has left me stunned and speechless!This is cinematic genius,and master-craft in narrative,visuals,soundtrack&meaning.From the CGI shots a plenty to the rounding up of the meaning using simple camera visuals,i simply cant recommend this film enough,my only gripe is that I know need to see this baby on the biggest screen possible.To all you film fans out there don't sell yourself short,leave everything behind and lose yourself in this film.This is for all you who believe,trust me!!!!