PRINCESS RACCOON

[Mark Nornes]

On Apr 20, 2005, at 1:19 AM, J.sharp wrote:

> Talking of PRINCESS RACCOON, has anyone actually seen this yet?

Put succinctly, great costumes and sets, nice music, and very 
imaginative use of special effects.

The long-winded version: The film feels like a cross between Guy Maddin 
and Fellini. Totally theatrical. I was often flashing back on Heisei 
Tanuki Ponpoko and the way Takahata exploits the freedom of animation 
to play with the folkloric conventions of tanuki transformations. In 
comparison, Seijun's film points to the limits of the human body. It 
makes fascinating use of special effects in an age when it seem they 
can do anything; however, despite the constant tweaking of the image 
with computers, one technology he doesn't make much (any?) use of is 
morphing. Curious.

The PR prominently places a plug from Baz Luhrmann, clearly hoping to 
give the film a certain Hollywood spin. But one also things of Bob 
Fosse's All That Jazz for films that strive for this level of 
theatricality—there's even tap dancing. But Fosse and Luhrmann 
choreograph bodies with a flexibility and movement that is further 
heightened by muscular camerawork. Maybe it's his age, but the language 
of the body is limited in Princess Raccoon, and is basically reliant on 
the theatricality of the proscenium stage. More color and costume than 
angle and movement. More Ennosuke's Super-Kabuki than Akaji Maro's 
Dairakudakan. More Vincent Minnelli than Bob Fosse.

Two questions to leave you with:

1) What will this film mean to people lacking baggage about Tanuki, 
their mischievousness, their love of anarchism, and their ability to 
transform?

2) What does Zhang Ziyi bring to the Tanuki Goten series, aside from 
some extra ticket sales and "Asian Beauty"?  How does the insertion of 
the Chinese element work here?

Markus
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