Amazon.com: Tekkonkinkreet (2006) is a landmark in the increasing cross-pollination between Japanese and American animation: Based on a manga by Taiyo Matsumoto, the film was made in Japan at Studio 4C, but directed by American Michael Arrias. The story unfolds in Treasure Town, a scabrous metropolitan slum so gritty it makes the viewer want to clean under his fingernails. Orphans White and Black share an existence at the fringes of an already marginalized subculture. White seems naive, if not learning disabled: at 11, he can't tie his shoes or dress himself. But he has an uncanny sixth sense about what's happening in Treasure Town. Older, streetwise Black looks after White and receives the emotional support he needs in return: They're two halves of a damaged whole. The arrival of a murderous yakuza boss who wants to demolish Treasure Town and build an amusement park draws Black and White into an escalating spiral of physical and emotional violence. Although the ending of Tekkonkinkreet feels needlessly obscure, it's a striking and often powerful film from a first-time director. (Rated R: violence, grotesque imagery, brief nudity, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
Product Description: From the creators of Animatrix comes this visually-stunning new anime film based on a popular Japanese manga written by Taiyo Matsumoto. In Treasure Town where the moon smiles and young boys can fly life can be both gentle and brutal. This is never truer than for our heroes Black and White two street urchins who watch over the city doing battle with an array of old-world Yakuza and alien assassins vying to rule the decaying metropolis. TEKKONKINKREET is a dynamic tale of brotherhood that addresses the faults of present day society true love lost and the kindness of the human heart.A brutal elegy for our changing times as well as a tour-de-force of visual artistry TEKKONKINKREET is a deeply resonant story with a heart. The title TEKKONKINKREET is a play on the Japanese words for concrete iron and muscle and it suggests the warring images of steel and concrete cities amassing against the powers of the imagination. Until now at least in imports abroad anime style has almost entirely been characterized by wide-eyed heroes big robots and uninspired plotting. TEKKONKINKREETjettisons these stereotypes in favor of a more realistic European ethos successfully incorporating engaging child characters and a complex action plot into a poetic engaging story.System Requirements:Run Time: 111 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/ADULT SWIM Rating: R UPC: 043396190689 Manufacturer No: 19068
little that i know... even tho animated japanese movies are already great just because they are, this one seems to have all kinds of extra info that make it a great experience, even if you dont put enough atention, even if you are half asleep, even if you rather bee seen something else, in the end, from the begining this is a great film
Nice art style, terrible directing It's a little bothersome that this film receives such praise. I don't think I've ever been so disappointed with a film in my life. The art direction is gorgeous, but the direction of the story was terrible. The pacing, especially, just drove me nuts. I was excited in the beginning. I loved the characters, the environment, the blurring of dream and reality, but nothing comes from it all. The story became increasingly confused and generic. I wish the art style wouldn't have been wasted on such rubbish. Has anyone read the original manga? It just makes me so sad that such intriguing characters and such unique art were massacred by whoever directed this.
Black, where are you? Associating this unique bit of animation to "Akira" or "Ghost In The Shell" is misleading. While it is "made by" the same folk who did "The Animatrix", "Tekkon kinkreet" stands alone with it's unique subject matter and presentation. It is akin to a dream. There are elements in the film that suggest this:
1) Both Black and White can "float" (as well as the "Alien" Assassins sent to kill them). 2) Looking through White's eyes, it IS hard to delineate reality, especially near the end. 3) Some laws of physics don't seem to apply in Treasure Town.
Within all this IS a good story, however. There seems to be no "gray" area anywhere in the film. Things are very clear-cut: Good and Bad, Black and White, see where I'm going with this? The film becomes a bit surreal at times, but there is never a point at which you might say "what's happening?" The separation of Black and White also becomes representative of what happens when those two "colors" are removed from the rainbow.
This film is quite good. It is not made in the fashion of American "beat-you-in-the-head-till-you're-numb" sort of fare. It's a film to sit back and relax with. It IS "R" rated, which precludes certain members of the family from seeing it, but it is not a children's film, anyway (as one may be swayed into thinking, because of it's style of animation).
The DVD has the ubiquitous extras, a making of feature, conversations with the Director and the band that contributed some music for the film, and last but not least, film commentary.
The Anime Film For People Who Hate Anime My first encounter with the movie was when the cover art grabbed my attention at Wal-mart one day. I picked it up thinking it would be a great flick to watch with my younger nephews, then I noticed it was rated R and put it back on the shelf and forgot about it.
Later, a friend told me I should check out this anime called Tekkokinkreet. So I take it and it sits on my TV for about a week. I don't like anime, More specifically I don't like the cliche dialogue about robots or pre-teens punks having and identity crisis when they realize they can shoot fireballs.
Then I saw this film and it absolutely not that. The story is a coming of age tale but much more existential and meaningful than you would expect from an animated film. The story weaves a character's internal conflict very well into the external. This makes it much more fluid and enjoyable to follow.
To top it off, the animation is rich and most of the shots are directed very well, much like an actual camera crew was shooting it.
A must see for anyone who thought they might like anime if it wasn't so cheesy.
"You can see everything from here" Says it all: This film is simply incredible! This film was recommended to me, and it took me a while to get to a store where I could rent it for the first time. Then shortly following the rental I felt I needed to buy it and watch it a hundred more times. I sat at my computer paying close attention to even the tiniest details. This film is all about precision (See the special features- 300 day documentary about the making).
First, this film is about two orphan boys living in a crumbling town called "Treasure Town." The focus is all about perspective and how one views the world. While Kuro (Black) has a very dark possessive view of his home town, one that he thinks should never be changed, while Shiro (White) has an imagination and an eye for how the world really should be.
The two are endlessly dogged by the Yakuza who want want to change the town into an amusement park (among other things) and make a profit. Kuro fights to preserve "My Town" and keep it a place that he can always be the top of and see everything from. Like many other people he wants to keep a sense of security. The world turns upside down with its inner workings and everything in the real town seems so superficial that world and dreams of Shiro seem the most logical option for surviving.
The precise colors, time taken for each shot is clearly expressed, nothing in this film is ever missed, all the work is clear cut and every single scene has its meaning.
Kuro and Shiro share a lonely life living in broken down car and living off stolen money and goods. Although Kuro lives to care for his friend, he has his reservations about how care free Shiro is and that Shiro doesn't entirely like the way the town is developing. The conflicting feelings and various lenses that they see this world from is amazing.
I sat back after seeing this and thought it was an intense but completely necessary violent movie about two kids who just don't want their childhood world to be shattered by the adults. So many themes, ideas, and undertones play into this film that it's open to all viewers.
The time, effort, and thought put into this 111 minute film is clear. The sync of the musical score by Plaid and incredible ending sound by Asian Kung Fu Generation and the bizzare world by Mr. Arias makes me want to go be a director, he did an amazing adaptation of "Black and White" and transformed it into something else entirely with more graphic images and characters that you don't want to ever forget.
If you liked Akira, Steamboy, or like strange, abstract, but intricately woven films, this is the top of the list, and is good for a group of friends or personal viewing. This deserves a 10 out of 5!
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