Casshern

This week’s movie post is delayed for circumstances beyond our control. Rest assured, we will be watching a mindless movie (on the schedule is the missed mindless movie Clash of the Titans, which may be mindless enough to make up for Inception and then some).

So instead, I wanted to bring to your attention a little under the radar movie called Casshern. It’s Japanese, with a budget of about 6 million dollars. It made 14 million at the box office, so it’s a bit of a success. Of course, most movies made for 6 million would seem to be very poor (Monty Python and the Holy Grail being the exception, having been made for around $275,000, partially financed by members of Pink Floyd). In Japan, 6 million can buy a lot more, so the movie is a lot better than its western counterparts.

It was marketed as an action flick, so a number of people who went to see it are probably very disappointed. There aren’t a lot of action scenes in it (to be fair, the ones in it are pretty good). Mostly, it’s a movie made to discuss Love, Hate, War, Peace, Forgiveness … basically, the deep parts of being human (and being sub-human, and being super-human). To be honest, it get into a bit of fauxlosophy. Mainly because if issues were resolved, it wasn’t really obvious how. I dunno. People just asked the deep questions, and suddenly understood answers. Very Deus Ex Machina.

Anyhow, the reason I wanted to bring it to your attention was for three reasons. The first is the action. Here’s a youtube clip of the hero decimating an army of robots with nothing more than his bare hands and the power of awesome. Keep an eye out for the part where he cuts a robot in half with his hand! Exquisitely shot

The second reason is the scenery. Some of the movie takes place at war, and the movie is suitably dark and washed-out. Some other parts are beautifully vibrant. Despite the lack of action (something I normally decry), I wasn’t bored. I was so interested in what the director would show next. Whoever the set designer was deserves several awards, even if I have to make them up myself (“The award for best use of scenery instead of action in a movie goes to …”).

Lastly, I want to direct your attention to the soundtrack. It’s masterful. It’s amazing. It’s enrapturing. It’s so good I will run out of adjectives before I can properly describe it. Here are a few youtube clips of my favourite songs. The last one is particularly good for something to listen to in bed before falling asleep.

Sadly, the movie is Japanese, and not widely distributed outside of there. It’s available online, but probably not at Bestbuy or Futureshop. You may have to look carefully, but I assure you it’s worth it, at least once.