From: doi@jrd.dec.com (Hitoshi Doi =?ISO-2022-JP?B?GyRCRVowZj9OO1YbKEI=?= )
Subject: [Curtis Hoffman] Movie depicts Greek myth
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Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 02:44:34 GMT
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   Note: Mark Schilling is a freelance writer who also has had a few
pieces published in _Mangajin_.  Because he's getting something of an
audience, I'm going to continue typing up his reviews of anime movies.
I'm also doing this because I consider him to be a lousy reviewer, and I
want other people to see what kind of stuff he's getting published in a
Japanese paper, aimed at a largely western readership.  I'm also hoping
that he will eventually see these comments, and respond to them.  I am
going to be sending in a few letters of comment to the Japan Times, too.
   You may notice that Schilling keeps employing a subtle "cartoons are
only for kids" theme (especially noticable in his Porco Rosso review)
that gives the impression that he feels embarrassed at having to admit
that he watches anime himself.
   Reprinted from the Aug. 11, 1992, Japan Times without permission.



Movie depicts Greek myth
by Mark Schilling

   Why would a Japanese animator make a film about a young Greek called
Melos who lived in ancient Sicily?
   Because most members of the audience, especially those of
junior-high-school age or above, would know the story: Osamu Dazai's
"Hashire Merosu! (Run, Melos!)" has been a school textbook staple for
decades.
   Best known for his darkly poignant autobiographical fictions ("The
Setting Sun," "No Longer Human") and in Japan for the ending of his
deeply troubled life (he threw himself into the Tamagawa Reservoir and
was found, drowned, on June 19, 1948 -- his 39th birthday), Dazai would
seem an unlikely candidate for textbook immortality, especially in a
school system dominated by conservative Ministry of Education
bureaucrats.
   "Hashire Merosu!" however, is not a cry of existential dispair or an
invitation to self destruction, but a morality tale that teaches a
starkly simple lesson: Trust is what binds us together -- without it we
fall into chaos.  In this deceitful age of ours, which has raised public
lying to an art form, it is a lesson worth learning.  Thus it is not
surprising that the Ministry of Education has given "Hishire Merosu!"
its seal of approval.
   As told by scriptwriter and director Masaaki Osumi ("Rupan Sansei,"
"Kojika Monogatari") "Hashire Merosu!" is also a fast-paced, tightly
plotted, action filled tale.  In short, typical anime fare.  Still,
though he adds characters and plot twists not found in Dazai's story,
Osumi remains faithful to is morally complex heart.
   The story is that of Damon and Pythias.  Melos, a hulking young greek
living in the Sicilian countryside, comes to Syracuse to buy a
ceremonial sword for his sister's wedding.  Soon after arriving in the
big city -- the first he has ever seen -- he meets and befriends
Selinuntius, a sculptor.  When he learns that his new acquaintance once
sculpted works for the king, Dionysius II, Melo wants to see them.
   When he sneaks into the palace grounds, however, he is caught by the
guards and brought before the king.  Although Melos tries to explain
that he meant no harm, the king does not believe him; a stranger
carrying a sword must be a potential assassin!  He sentences Melos to
death.
   Before he is dragged away, Melos asks the king to allow him to take
the sword home to his sister.  The king laughs: if he lets him go, who
would guarantee his return?  "You must trust me!" Melos says.
   By this point, we know that Melos is a simple, decent, good-hearted
fellow; we believe he means what he is saying.  What makes him think
that the king -- he of the coldly sly smile and the evilly hooded eyes
-- would ever trust him?  He is hopelessly naive, this Melos.
   Yet the king is amused by Melos' request; it gives him an idea for a
brilliantly cruel jest.  Yes, he will grant Melos his three days -- if
he can find a man to take his place.  If Melos does not return by the
promised time, that man will die.  Who would be so stupid as to step
forward?
   A man does step forward, of course: Selinuntius.
   Will Melos return?  Or will he abandon his friend to the mercy of
Dionysius?  If we know the story of Damon and Pythias, and why their
names are synonyms for comradely loyalty, we know the answers.
   Though he may be simple, Melos is not stupid; he knows that he has a
choice and that it is not an easy one.  Life is hard to give up,
especially for a young and healthy hunk -- but so is self respect.
   As Melos mediatates on a dark, lonely, mountain road, we begin to
feel the need for a living, breathing ACTOR; the film's animators are
talented, but they are better at conveying physical vitality than
emotional depth.
   In trying to supply that depth, Osumi burdens the film with soapish
plot complications.  Do we really need to know that Selinuntius is
artistically blocked (he hasn't completed a work in three years, since
the death of the master sculpture who taught him his art) and is slowly
driving his loyal girlfriend away with his wild drinking bouts?  Even if
we are not under 10, the answer is no.
   Despite the occasional slow spots, "Hashire Merosu!" builds to a
rousing climax that would warm the heart of Steven Spielberg.  Would it
also warm the heart of Osamu Dazai?  He might, I think, have appreciated
the irony of a Japanese director using Hollywood conventions to pump up
his rendering of an ancient Western myth.
   Danzai, however, had his own, darker, very Japanese interpretation of
the Damon and Pythias legend.  He did not leap into the Tamagawa
Reservoir alone, but with a female companion; it was his last of several
attempts at _Shinjuu_, or love suicide.  In doing so, he changed the
ending to his story; Melos proved his loyalty, but it was Dionysius who
had the final triumph.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

   Curtis' comments:

   "Why would a Japanese animator make a film about a young Greek called
Melos who lived in ancient Sicily?" -- Well, why WOULDN'T he make such a
film?  Greek, Roman, and Hindu myths have been used quite extensively
in anime in the past.  What's the big deal?

   "Trust is what binds us together [...] In this deceitful age of ours,
which has raised public lying to an art form, it is a lesson worth
learning." -- Of COURSE this is an important lesson... how else can someone
successfully lie to you, if you DON'T trust him?  Schilling doesn't seem to
understand his own hyperbole.

   Masaaki Osumi directed "Rupan Sansei" AKA Lupin III.  Schilling's
audience are mainly non-Japanese readers, so why doesn't he use the
recognized English version of the title?

  ""Hashire Merosu!" is also a fast-paced, tightly plotted, action
filled tale.  In short, typical anime fare." -- "Typical"?  I'd consider
"Cooking Papa," and "Chibi Maruko-Chan"  to be typical anime fare, too,
and neither are tightly plotted, fast-paced action.  Schilling is
starting to show his bias now.

  "As Melos mediatates on a dark, lonely, mountain road, we begin to
feel the need for a living, breathing ACTOR; the film's animators are
talented, but they are better at conveying physical vitality than
emotional depth." -- What Schilling wants is someone who doesn't speak
with their eyes, like anime characters do.  He wants deep sighs, and
histrionics

   "In trying to supply that depth, Osumi burdens the film with soapish
plot complications.  Do we really need to know that Selinuntius is
artistically blocked (he hasn't completed a work in three years, since
the death of the master sculpture who taught him his art) and is slowly
driving his loyal girlfriend away with his wild drinking bouts?  Even if
we are not under 10, the answer is no." -- Really?  Schilling's made a
few comments on how this story is based on the themes of loyalty and
trust, and then dismisses the loyalty of the old sculptor to his master,
and the girlfriend to her lover, as soap opera stuff.  Apparently, Mark
can not handle more than one plot level per film.

  "He might, I think, have appreciated the irony of a Japanese director
using Hollywood conventions to pump up his rendering of an ancient
Western myth." -- First, Schilling has yet to describe ANY of the
"Hollywood conventions" used in the movie, and second, the phrase
"Western myth" is not usually used to describe Greek mythology.

   And, I'm afraid that I have no idea what the final paragraph is
supposed to say, or mean.  I don't know what loyalty Dazai showed to
anyone else in his life, and Melos presumably didn't die by jumping into
a reservoir.  And if the true meaning of the story is loyalty, then
Melos won THROUGH his death, which is supposedly the entire point.

   I do admit that I haven't seen the movie, but after having read
Schilling's review, I'm not sure he has, either.

--
Hitoshi Doi, International Open Systems Engineering        doi@jrd.dec.com
Japan Research and Development Center               decwrl!jrd.dec.com!doi
Digital Equipment Corporation Japan                     doi@decvax.dec.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime