From the moment an electric guitar’s riff introduces heroine and painter Katsushika Ōi (Anne Watanabe) in 1814 Edo, Japan, Keiichi Hara‘s Miss Hokusai clearly wants us to know that this girl is beyond her time. The musical anachronism tells us as much, but so does the haughty way in which Ōi dismisses the gauche advances of a would-be suitor and the way her voice-over narration signals a self-assuredness not typically attributed to women of her time. The film’s final scene suggests it again, reintroducing the guitar leitmotif while the same, confident narration tells us that Ōi married once but lived her final days untethered to men. As her voice subsides, Edo transforms, via time-lapse, into the Tokyo that we know today, showcasing the modernization of which the real-life Ōi was one of the early figures.
Taken together, these narrative bookends pronounce the spirited independence of this young woman...
Taken together, these narrative bookends pronounce the spirited independence of this young woman...
- 10/13/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Cast: Anne Watanabe, Michitaka Tsutsui, Yutaka Matsushige, Kumiko Asô, Shion Shimizu, Gaku Hamada, Kengo Kôra | Written by Miho Maruo | Based on the manga by Hinako Sugiura | Directed by Keiichi Hara
Choosing to depict an artist’s life in a form close to their own can be a tightrope walk. Miss Hokusai dares to examine the work and lives of two Japanese artists in the form of anime, but this turns out to be a natural fit: the broad brushstrokes of its principals stand in harmonious contrast to the considerably less stylised but no less lovely animation of the film. It’s a shame that this is the only aspect of the film that really strikes a chord.
Set in 19th-century Edo (later known as Tokyo), Miss Hokusai centers on talented young artist O-Ei and her father, the Hokusai of the film’s title, also a painter but with far greater success.
Choosing to depict an artist’s life in a form close to their own can be a tightrope walk. Miss Hokusai dares to examine the work and lives of two Japanese artists in the form of anime, but this turns out to be a natural fit: the broad brushstrokes of its principals stand in harmonious contrast to the considerably less stylised but no less lovely animation of the film. It’s a shame that this is the only aspect of the film that really strikes a chord.
Set in 19th-century Edo (later known as Tokyo), Miss Hokusai centers on talented young artist O-Ei and her father, the Hokusai of the film’s title, also a painter but with far greater success.
- 2/4/2016
- by Mark Allen
- Nerdly
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