DVD
$60
Known for its hyperkinetic energy and hardware fetishism, anime makes Hollywood's action blockbusters seem positively tame. But the genre is showing signs of maturing beyond sci-fi thrills and clashing ninjas. Case in point: Jin-Roh (man-wolf in Japanese) adds a dose of human drama to classic anime elements. The result is a film that skillfully juggles explosions and emotions.
Jin-Roh is set in a world in which the Nazis won WWII. A decade after the war, the government and its Capital Police are fighting an underground resistance group called the Sect. The establishment is also threatened from within as a rogue police unit conspires to win power. Against this backdrop, Jin-Roh follows the doomed relationship between Fuse, a disgraced special-forces soldier, and Kei, the look-alike of a terrorist bomber Fuse failed to kill.
The movie's dynamic thrust results from the collaboration of two filmmakers from different generations. In the DVD's extensive interviews, we learn that Mamoru Oshii, veteran director of such landmarks as Ghost in the Shell and the Patlabor series, approached newcomer Hiroyuki Okiura to adapt his manga Hellhounds: Panzer Corps into a movie. Okiura, who had worked as an animation supervisor on Ghost, agreed, with one condition: The megaviolent material had to be retooled as a love story.
Thus Oshii's comic became a nightmarish fable of wolf-soldiers who aren't able to live and find love among humans.Yet unlike his comrades, Fuse feels anxious in his commando role. With piercing infrared goggles he looks every bit the wolf. But his inability to act calls his inner animal into question.
Beyond the plotlines, the story is told through visuals. The animation's meticulously drawn, verité style and subdued color palette imbue the movie with an old newsreel feel that realistically conveys the dreary post-WWII atmosphere. The German occupation is subtly reflected in the VWs, Sten guns, and Lugers in the DVD's production sketches, while the sweeping score performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra lends rich, haunting dimension. Although the DVD features the usual array of dubbed and subbed audio options, the Japanese-language DTS track is so exquisitely detailed, you'll hear the spent cartridges pinging off your living room walls.
Jin-Roh is also punctuated by readings from Rotkäppchen, the Grimm brothers' more sinister retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. This clever narrative touch fits perfectly in Jin-Roh's bleak and ruthless world.
Bandai Entertainment: www.bandai-ent.com.
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