In the Aftermath

Tripped over this movie on late night TV after a hard shift at work. Caught it just after the intro credits and wondered what it was about. The anime caught me off guard as I had gone to get a coffee and sandwich and thought the film had ended and was surprised to find it hadn't. The music caught my attention more than anything else. There is a classic piece played on the piano by one of the main characters which I have since discovered was not written for the movie as I had first thought. I'd like to track this piece down as it kept me watching the movie to the end. Some of the anime scenes have a haunting imagery to them which the music again complements well.

Most who're interested in this film have interest because it contains images from Oshii's surreal masterpiece "Tenshi no Tamago." With Tenshi no Tamago lacking a proper release abroad, one may feel tempted to pick up a copy of "In the Aftermath" just to view the plundered footage. Do not do it! The acting is awful, the direction is pointless and cheesy, and the special effects could have been better done with equipment found lying about the house. It's a third-rate film with a fourth-rate production. The usage of the footage from Tenshi no Tamago, a true art film, is shameful and unacceptable. Fans of campy science fiction would do better to pick up an arm-full of TROMA flicks from the video store.

In this experimental animation and live action hybrid post-apocalyptic indie film you really need to have a taste for such films as they are not done with your traditional story and filmmaking aesthetics. For some, the film does meander and seem to be unfocused but it has an interesting concept especially if you're able to appreciate it. It is definitely not for everyone especially those who have never seen the animated film Angel's Egg (I still haven't yet). The performances are not strong but that doesn't really take away from the film, overall, This being said, the visuals are interesting and for the most part, this avant garde film is easy to follow.

From New World Pictures, this is a great fun, Sci-Fi, half Japanese animated (Pokeman' style) & half live action film... I was the Sound Designer/Sound Supervisor/Editor on this film and it SOUNDS GREAT (for a first timer)!!!! It was my first film and started my career. The sound was so good that Don Bassman, the lead mixer and Director of the Sound Department at Twentieth Century Fox, asked me to move my company onto the studio lot. I did, from 1988 to 1992,... he gave me the key to building 26!!!!

I watched this film firstly when I was 4 or 5 years old. I didn't really know what I was watching in the early 90s. I just remember that half was animated and half was a horrible barren wasteland with not many people and a man playing piano wearing a gas mask. The song played by the man wearing a gas mask whilst the woman watches is called Veni Gabriel by Horacio Moscovici who was by chance in Buenos Aires, whilst playing at a bar, approached by the director who happened to be there. He was asked to write the score to the movie. This was in 1986 or so. Since google existing, I looked up this movie and watched again and how it bares a resemblance to what happens to day. I just got off the phone to Horacio Moscovici now where he is in Argentina. I have been playing piano for 25 years or slightly more now.

It is strange how a movie can be made but as time passes have a little more meaning than it did before. Sometimes humanity isnt ready for movies made yet. Sure the movie is low budget but then again so are a lot of the best theatre performances. Sometimes you have to put aside the fact that there isnt complicated CGI sequences like Lord of the Rings or the pyrotechnics of Saving Private Ryan and see a movie for what it is.

Look up Del Nido al Vuelo - Horacio Moscovi - the whole album is brilliant stuff and piano that is not your usual Bach or Beethoven.