Tekkonkinkreet

Tekkonkinkreet has got to be one of the most gorgeously painted and drawn animes I've seen so far. The cityscape world is illustrated with intense detail and the grim urban landscape is juxtaposed with splashes of gaudy Disneyesque colour - you feel you are following events in a strange hybrid heaven and hell, which I feel reflects the themes of the movie too. What begins as a story following the lives of two street orphans changes abruptly halfway through into a very disturbing trip through psychosis and mental breakdown. Are these kids imagining things? Are these not two kids, but one kid with a split personality? Is any of this real? As you can tell, I had a lot of questions after watching this film.

I enjoyed it a lot because it seems to very different from most other anime movies. Even the art direction doesn't seem very typically anime at all - which might be the influence of the director, who is American. But by all accounts the source manga is similarly drawn so clearly author and director have produced a stunning and very original set of works in both print form and movie form. Nearly everything is depicted from the point of the view of the children - so there's a lot of imaginary and exaggerated things going on. For example, the kids seem to leap from tall buildings and fall from the sky without any repercussions. In reality they're probably just running around as normal humans do, but seen from the perspective of a little kid, it's perfectly normal to assume your little run is an adventure using superhuman powers.

There were moments that had me wondering where it was going as some parts meander a bit but the main characters are very likeable, even some of the villains. There was one touching moment where young White stands at the edge of a school staring at the little kids playing - normal kids, kids who have home lives and families, kids who are a world away from him. Nothing is said in this scene, we the viewers don't need nudging about the pain and loss that he's feeling.

If you like films with a bit of a strange psychological edge to them (say, Donnie Darko) then you'll also enjoy Tekkon Kinkreet. It's also one worth several repeat visits to enjoy the artwork alone but you will definitely have questions about what certain things mean and search for answers in some of the scenes that may have been foreshadowed earlier in the film.

8/10