Miss Hokusai

In 1814 Edo, Japan, a master artist Katsushika Hokusai, known as Tetsuzo, and his daughter O-Ei spend their time creating splendid paintings, some on commission and some just because. Tetsuzo lives away from his wife and younger daughter, who is blind, and he tends to have little to do with them, perhaps because he is afraid of illness and disability. Instead, he instructs O-Ei and others in his art, but in some ways his daughter outstrips even his talent. This lands them in trouble on occasion, for example when one of her paintings is believed by its owner to be enchanted by devils, but Tetsuzo knows how to make things right again. If only his daughter wasn't so hot-headed!

This is a beautifully rendered anime based on a manga, Sarusuberi; having not read the manga, I don't know how faithful the film is to the source material. In any event, it looks lovely and the story of the artists' lives is very well told. It has more of an episodic feel to it than a straight plot-line, but since Tetsuzo was apparently a real person in 19th Century Edo (now Tokyo), that method of story-telling works very well. If you like anime, you'll love this movie.

It's 1814 Edo, Japan. Tetsuzo is a famous painter. He lives with his daughter O-Ei. She also paints but he often critiques her work harshly. Zenjiro is a hanger-on, a former samurai who turned to painting. O-Ei hates Zenjiro's inferior work and ridicules him as Zen Zero. She often visits her blind half-sister O-Nao who lives with her mother and Tetsuzo rarely visits due to his aversion of the sick.

This evokes a time and place. It paints two great characters. The plot is episodic in nature and I would like more in terms of plot development. I love the woman haunted by O-Ei's painting. There are great bits of a story. I don't know if O-Ei's character development is enough. I am intrigued by her visit to the brothel but it comes to nothing. In the end, she marries but it's left to a postscript text. The script needs a plot development rewrite. It paints a beautiful picture but the picture doesn't really move. Does she become a great artist? Does she find true love? Does sex release her artistry? Is she gay? Does death give her art new depths? There are so many questions but this movie is reluctant to answer them.

Day to day life of a historical figure in Japan. The family was creating great paintings so the animators took special care to create scenes of rare beauty. Not much adventures but lots of thoughts and details make the film very alive. The film leaves our subjects a bit early and the epilogue is brushed over quickly it seems. But we witnessed a passage of time.

American films are a shallow, inane mess. That's why people go see foreign films at art houses. They want to feel good about themselves, and they want to look good to others. Miss Hokusai probably isn't playing in theaters anymore. But if it was, it's a great place to take a date if you want to impress them with your amazing and elitist tastes.

I'm not one for typical anime. And of the other anime-ish films that were big in America - Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, etc. - I guess I kind of liked them, but I'm not sure why, other than I'm supposed to like them, and it's good and right to like them. Agree, NPR crowd?

Well. Miss Hokusai is a film critic's dream. As soon as I saw it playing at my local college town theatre, I already knew it got 100% from Metacritic and consistent red tomatoes on Rotten Tomatoes. Film critics' tastes are extremely predictable. The more pretentious and experimental a film, the more it merits 5 stars, or 10 stars, or whatever's the highest rating of X publication or website.

Why Miss Hokusai gets rave reviews from critics:

-It's Japanese anime-ish, and critics and TED lecture fans alike all salivate for those.

-It has - gasp! - LBGT in there, and it's not even implied or subdued!!

-I don't know what the f--- it's about, but it sure looks good!

-Japanese Edo period, about famous artist/painter! Critics love artsiness.

-Beautiful Japanese anime-ish characters! Critics appreciate different cultures.

-Japan, Japan, oh how they love and adore Japan!

-Gorgeous 19th-century Edo cityscape and scenery. Critics adore and appreciate cinematography, history, architecture, and the outdoors - a plus if it's a different culture!

-And what is the film about again? I don't care, it seems experimental and cool, so I'll upvote it!

Anyway, I'm guilty of thinking like critics, so I was pretty impressed with the film, and I enjoyed it. I'd hate to say this, but it really is way better than typical American films. Art-house elitism!

I've had this anime for years, but did not watch it, cuz like a lot of people, the score is important for me. But finally I managed to watch this stream of consciousness and do enjoy it. Watch this sweet and bitter taste of dream.