A Country for Cinema and Demon Trains
I had my first experience at a Japanese cinema on Sunday when I went to see the massively successful new Kimetsu no Yaiba movie. It's a good movie but, even more than the movie itself, I was delighted by the average character of the Japanese movie audience. I'd had lunch with a coworker before the film and he'd explained to me that, in Japan, audiences are normally very quiet during movies. In fact, my coworker admitted feeling nervous for the noise he makes just when eating popcorn. I told him how great I thought this was. My delight was increased when, before the movie, a little film with cartoon characters warned people not to eat snacks in noisy plastic wrappers. Even the plastic wrappers are forbidden! I nearly wept for joy. What American cinema would dare issue such a warning? In Japan, though, it's just basic courtesy, to the other people in the audience and to the filmmakers.
You can see it makes a difference in the creative decisions of the filmmakers. I'd always known Miyazaki movies to use silence--the introduction of the Forest Spirit in Princess Mononoke comes to mind. But Kimetsu no Yaiba has many more moments where the sound is totally cut and the filmmaker can do so trusting it will have exactly the effect he intends because, when there's no sound from the movie, you can be sure there's not a pin drop in the theatre. Every time I think I can't love this country more, I find something else.
The movie makes the wise decision of adapting stories directly from the manga, immediately following on from the end of the anime series, instead of trying to create some new, epic, movie sized story that reintroduces the characters and concepts. We find Tanjiro (Natsuki Hanae), Zenitsu (Hiro Shimono), and Inosuke (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka) sneaking around a train station, following their fellow demon slayer Kyojuro (Satoshi Hino). Kyojuro is more powerful and experienced than the three of them so they've decided to tag along on his quest.
Most of the movie is set on the haunted train where they catch up with Kyojuro. I've always liked stories set on trains, especially supernatural stories set on trains. There's not a great deal of invention or variety in Kimetsu no Yaiba's visual design but just because the look of those dark woods outside is consistent with the series doesn't make it a bad thing. The interior of the train basically fits with the early 20th century setting of the series. It's not as detailed or intricately designed as a Miyazaki movie but it's nice. I was a bit surprised by the over-reliance on simple cgi algorithms--the animation in general is only about as good as the TV series. Considering the movie's dominance at the box office, the low budget must've made for a hell of a profit.
There are some really funny moments in the film, especially involving Inosuke, who's very excited to be on a train and upsets the other passengers by pushing his way from window to window.
But things take a more somber tone after their tickets are punched and each finds himself caught in a separate dream. Tanjiro dreams his family is alive again, setting up the film's overall theme about life's impermanence and the danger of nostalgia. I would've expected Zenitsu to dominate this story since his superpower manifests when he's asleep. He does have a really sweet moment where his power manifests but mostly he stays caught in a dream where he's on a date with Nezuko (Akari Kito) in a beautiful garden. The funniest moment of the film is Inosuke's dream, though, in which he leads around Nezuko, who's been given bunny ears by his subconscious.
The focus abruptly shifts for the last act so Kyojuro can have a showdown with one of the top tier demons. This segment brought most of the audience to tears, young and old. I can't remember the last time I saw that in an American cinema.
The trailer for the next Evangelion movie was shown before the film. If the low Corona levels hold, Evangelion's coming out in January. The contrast between the two popular franchises was striking. Evangelion is much more experimental, more creatively bold. Kimetsu no Yaiba is also strikingly conservative by contrast, being set in a beautified historical era and keeping the characters in very traditional gender roles. I wonder how well the new Evangelion will do.
Twitter Sonnet #1412
For blinking fast the planets change a space.
A time of trees replaced the gap of years.
On fallen cards the hearts retain the ace.
The night contracts about a dozen beers.
A tree of stars was bought beside the mall.
For timing late the solar panel glows.
The chief of grids was right beside the wall.
Through windowpanes we watched the withered rows.
The troubled boat remained beside the post.
Reflexive night occurred to stop the tab.
A hasty lunch reserved the right to roast.
A cake arose and filled the tiny cab.
The silent room was filled with colour screens.
The giant sound surpassed the tailored seams.