Tekkon Kinkreet Reviews

tekkonkinkreet (aka black and white) is based on taiyo matsumoto's manga of the same name. and really it is much like watching the manga come to life. they've followed it closely and captured much of the feel of it.

i tend to hate when movies are dubbed since they often butcher the inflections, so i watch them in the original language with subtitles. this can admittedly be difficult with this movie. it moves quickly and is very much about the somewhat random washy underground life. ultimately what feels really confusing at first gives way to a better understanding and is still entirely worth viewing this way. i have yet to watch it dubbed so i couldn't comment on how well that is done or if its better seen that way (in rare instances dubbed turns out to be better).

the story is about two homeless orphans who rule their city by force. they get into scrapes with yakuza and others. a businessman plans to turn their city into an amusement park which they aren't fond of (neither is the main yakuza). a rather evil man is hired to 'clean up' the city to oust the unwanted problems so the project can move forward, which ultimately means killing black and white. his machine like strong men set out to kill them.
its hard to how all this goes down. its not the most on track sort've story. there are a number of intertwined stories and other happenings which make up much of what happens. which could seem confused as far as a script is concerned, but honestly it just feels more like life happening when matsumoto writes it. in the end white and black are seperated and black begins to go insane (or rather he begins to turn evil), how he is saved is linked to his counter part; the innocence of white who is mentally deficient. its a story about two kids against the big bad city. complex, touching, and profound.

this will not likely be a favorite of most people (and like most books turned into movies, the book is better), but there is a lot to love and appreciate from this film. a great story, wild and unusual animation, and fun music (by plaid). theres really nothing else that looks like this. especially unusual is the watercolor like scenes representing white's dreams and at the end are used when black starts to turn bad. those scenes are wildly unusual and distorted. its amazing work.

for me at least this is one of the best animated films i've seen. its a cross between the beauty of a animation like grave of the fireflies, a violent film like kill bill (or something...), moments of trippy psychedelic ecstatic bliss, and a lazy wash like lost in translation. a bit like wong kar wai's chungking express (and fallen angels) as a animated film about two kids.

brilliant, masterful, and a must see.