Review by Stuart Barr
Stars Mike Wiluan and the voices of Tetsuya Bessho,
Motoko Gollent, Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Produced by Tan Fong Cheng & Freddie Yeo
Written by Eric Khoo
Certification UK 15 | US xx
Runtime 96 minutes
Directed by Eric Khoo
Singapore’s official Oscar entry Tatsumi is an animated feature based on the life and works of Japanese Manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Tatsumi is an important artist in the development of Manga (Japanese comic books), however these are not stories of giant robots, Samurai, or horny demons (at least not the supernatural kind). From the late 1950s he pioneered what he called gekiga (which means “dramatic pictures”) a then novel form of manga that focused on dark adult themes, realism, and in portraying the strange vices and psychological hangups of post war Japan.
The film Tatsumi does its best to represent the one colour printing of Japanese Manga of the fifties and sixties, and Tatsumi’s particular art style. Presented with a wraparound biographical story of the artist himself, the film is comprised of five of his most notable stories. Many of these stories, such as ‘Occupied’, centre on Manga artists struggling to adapt to the economically and socially tumultuous times they are living in.
Of the five stories, I found Occupied the most interesting. A children’s Manga artist falls out of commercial favour and struggles to adapt to new tastes. However when his stress induced stomach issues force him to run for a public lavatory he discovers new inspiration from the pornographic graffiti scrawled on the walls of the convenience. As this brief synopsis suggests, sex and sexuality is a common theme. Other stories tell of an ageing businessman trapped in a loveless marriage and a female prostitute serving American servicemen (a story that goes into taboo breaking territory that I personally found extremely distasteful).
Grinding suffocating misery is another constant theme of the stories, the opening ‘Hell’ which recounts the horrific experiences of a military photographer sent to document the aftermath of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima is affecting and poignant. However another story, ‘Beloved Monkey’, in which a lonely factory worker adopts a simian friend, takes grinding misery so far that it becomes a Japanese version of the most maudlin of Country and Western songs. And then ma dawg left me... well in this case Monkey.
Despite the obvious artistry of Khoo’s film, I found it largely impenetrable and likely to appeal only to serious students of Japanese literature. Matters are not helped by a cloying soundtrack, and the use almost exclusively of voice over to narrate the stories is droning and monotone. I felt my self sinking through my screening room chair crushed by the relentless dour atmosphere.