Sometimes a change of pace is nice, even for this little fashion blog. I'm not sure how to start this post so why don't we begin with a little background about me...
Favorite Genres: French New Wave and Post-War German.
Favorite Directors: Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, Hayao Miyazaki, Francois Truffaut.
Just some basic facts about me and movies. Doesn't really do anything for the post except to show that when it comes to movies, I can be a little indie-hipster-ish. Anyways, I just finished watching Donnie Darko for the first time. I love talking about movies almost as much as fashion, but I could never come around to writing movie reviews. Something about Netflix and IMDB's comment area scares the living daylight out of me. I don't like the idea of writing a short review on a comment board, then letting people vote as to how helpful it is. So, instead, I'm turing to my blog; that nice little safe place I can write whatever I want, and get my thoughts out in a collective place (journaling never caught on with me, but this blogging thing sure has!).
So, I never had the urge to watch this, and only did so because it was a "watch instantly" film on Netflix. I didn't know anything about it, except that I heard somewhere it was one of those cult films, so that was nice to go into it with an unbiased opinion. I always say to judge a book by it's cover. So based on covers I was expecting something like Scream. A mediocre movie about a boy killing people relentlessly. Wow, I was wrong. I don't like giving things away so no movie synopsis here, just my thoughts on it. This easily makes it into my top 10 movies list, and only the second movie to completely pause my life afterwords. As the end credits started rolling, I just sat in my seat, and for the next 10 or 15 minutes I just sat there in silence. It is such a special moment when a film paralyzes you. You can't will yourself to do anything. You sit, and think. This film turned out to be so much deeper than I thought it would be. It is corny to say this but this film is an onion; rich with layers of hidden meaning and touching on a vast array of conceptual ideas. Of course, no good movie can only appeal to your cerebral side, and this was no exception. Luckily at the end, my emotions were at peace, a content mixture of both happy and sad, much different than the one other movie to leave me in this contemplative state.
If you have seen this before, I'm sure you know what I mean now. If you haven't then run out and watch it right away. Don't be off-put because it is animation (Japanese specifically) and has subtitles, because it is nothing like a traditional anime film. It covers the life of a brother and sister left on their own after both parents die in the fire bombings of Kobe during WW2. Like I said, not your usual anime; no dragons, magic, or teen schoolgirls in this one. Once watching it you realize that animation was the only way to make this. A live film would not be able to capture the detail required. If you have seen this, I'm sure you know what I will say next, because everyone else I have talked to who's seen it said the same things. This is also the only film I have cried during. Five minutes in and the waterworks started. By the end, I was a mess. It is the most heart-wrenching movie ever. No lie. And like Donnie Darko, I sat at the end of this, and for about 30 minutes did nothing. Once again, everyone I know who has seen this said the same thing happened to them. Old, young, boy, or girl; you will feel the same thing. It is eye opening, and will make you think about life differently afterwards. So go, rent this, it is a gold standard for what the power of movies can do.
