Does enlightenment lead to a brighter future, or just another round of darkness from hell? Can the prosperity of the cityscape contain the rawest, most psychopathic energy in all of us? Is it fair for any of us to suspect about conspiracy, as we cannot even battle the desire and greed so familiar to humanity? In the 1980s, a comic series has successfully captured and explored all these stingy little questions that have always hidden in the darkest corners of humanity. The author of the series went as far to direct an animated feature from that in 1988, and that has become a modern classic in animation, cyberpunk and sci-fi in general. That film is one of my favorite animated features of all time - Katsuhiro Otomo’s ‘AKIRA’ (1988)!
‘Akira’ is the most famous work from the Japanese comic artist and filmmaker Katsuhiro Otomo. Being a big fan in both comic and cinema since a young age, Otomo started working in comic in the 1970s. He devised the cyberpunk comic series of ‘Akira’ in around 1980, and eventually he decided to make a cinematic version of his masterpiece. It is noteworthy to see that the animated feature is quite different in terms of plot to the comic, so that is definitely a good reason to watch the film because that will not be repetitive in any sense. In fact, this is a visual spectacle I recommend to anyone who enjoys cinema and comic alike. Though dealing with the darker aspect of humanity, the film is very beautiful and stylized, though there are so pretty crazy and violent (I mean R-Rated ones, not those petty PG-13 ones) moments. That is the sort of ‘cinematic LSD’ that will heighten you up to another realm. I do remember vividly the first viewing of this visual dynamite on Laser Disc – there was a long, long time ago. The images in the film have made a very lasting impression on me, as if they have been imprinted onto my mind. I suppose this type of cinematic education really contributes to my passion for cinema afterwards! Visual spectacles apart, the messages behind ‘Akira’ are also very thought-provoking and totally relevant to the issues of the modern condition. Technology versus superstition, rationality versus psychopathy, as you will see the success of ‘Akira’ plays on these yin-yang relationships. Maybe my only complaint about this film is the way Tokyo is destroyed – that expanding hemispheric energy kind of recall integral calculus and that is a bit corny. Nevertheless, I have to admit that is still a pretty memorable opening scene.
‘It’s Disney on PCP, mean, rotten, psychotic, but incredibly vivid.’ - Stephen Hunter, Baltimore Sun.
Let’s get into a bit of background regarding the inspirations and influence of ‘Akira’, as we can then appreciate its place in the cinematic universe. As stated before, Otomo is well-versed in the knowledge of comics as well as cinema, as one can easily see the creation of ‘Akira’ was based on many inspirations he has come to be aware of. For example, Otomo is known to be a big fan of the Japanese robot comic ‘Tetsujin-28 Go’. Not only the names of the characters in Akira are homages to the robot comic, the number ‘28’ also serves an important purpose in both manga. Indeed, even the storyline has parallels – which is about the destruction of an old world and the emergence of new powers and the wave of struggle between good and evil that follows. In terms of the Western culture, Otomo has cited the French comic artist, Moebius, as an influence; and he also enjoys a number of New Hollywood era films such as ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ and ‘Easy Rider’, where they have anti-establishment tones. In fact, Otomo seems to have a love for stories regarding conspiracy, as ‘Akira’ and ‘Steamboy’ – kind of a period version of ‘Akira’ – both involve corrupted politics and controversial use of science. But there is one particular influence I would like to elaborate on – that is the influence from American filmmaker Nicholas Ray, and one of his most famous films, ‘Rebel Without A Cause’. Otomo has admired Ray’s work and if we really look into both films, there are indeed quite a lot of similarities in terms of style and also content. In the second part of this article series I will compare ‘Akira’ and ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ side-by-side.
Not only ‘Akira’ has a lot of connections with many famous and iconic films and comics, it is also an iconic film which has influenced many subsequent films from the science fiction genre. A film immediately comes to mind is Shinya Tsukamoto’s ‘Tetsuo’, where it deals with the theme of transformation and the protagonist serves the name with one of the key characters in ‘Akira’. Filmmakers of ‘Ghost in the Shell’, ‘The Matrix’, ‘Dark City’ and others have cited inspirations from ‘Akira’. Indeed, just like ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘The Terminator’, ‘Akira’ is among the key films that have shaped the way we look at the sub-genre of cyberpunk nowadays.
The story of Akira took place in an alternative universe, where Tokyo was destroyed spectacularly by a massive, spherical and expanding explosion in 1988. While the scenario did recall nightmares back in the time of studying differential equations, that was indeed a shocking way to start a movie. After surviving the ordeal of a World War III, a city known as Neo-Tokyo emerged from the ruins and clutters. Considering a sightseeing trip? Not for me. This place was indeed pretty fxxked up, because it was rampant with crime, teenager gang problems, pollution and worse still, a corrupt government consisting of greedy politicians and scientists. The year is 2019. Kaneda, who is a teenager and leads a biker gang, associates with Tetsuo, his childhood friend. While the gang is doing battle with a rival gang during the night, Tetsuo's motorcycle accidentally crashed onto a kid called Takashi. This kid was abducted by some members of a resistant organization, because he possessed a special psychic power, and was used for secret experiment by the government. As a result Tetsuo was also captured by the Colonel, Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) , back to the government for potential experimentation. Soon after, Kaneda met Kei, a member of the resistant group, and they became friends.
It turned out that Tetsuo is just as strong as his name implies (that means 'iron male' literally), and he possesses his fair share of psychic abilities. Indeed, his power is so strong that it can be compared to 'Akira', designated as sample number 28, the esper responsible for the 1988 destruction. After a failed attempt to escape, Tetsuo found himself in the custody and stranded in the hospital, yet his hallucinations started to get the better of him and Tetsuo started to unleash his power, injuring some of the guards and fighting off the fellow espers who attempted to stop him. While Tetsuo's power escalated, he decided to go to the construction site of the Olympic Stadium, which is the place where the remains of Akira were stored cryogenically. Wishing to harness the power from Akira, Tetsuo acquired the alpha killer status and caused major destruction all the way through Neo-Tokyo. Kaneda, joining force with Kei and the other espers, decides that they all have to work together to battle against Tetsuo, and the Colonel, recognizing his sense of responsibility, also rebels against the government and assembles his troops to stop Tetsuo, and that involves the use of a laser satellite (!!). The final showdown in the Stadium is inevitable, and as I will assure the readers, pretty crazy and out of this world. Will Kaneda and the others be able to stop the telepathic Iron-Man?
What really strikes me about 'Akira' is the technical accomplishment it has achieved given that it is not even a live-action film. When watching at a young age, I was already in awe of how stunning and beautiful this anime could be, even I still have not yet developed a serious interest in cinema or film criticism. As I come back to this film throughout the years, I start to appreciate the style so unique to this cyberpunk classic. 'Akira' is such a cinematic film - the style is comparable to those found in classic cinema, and Otomo's approach is so dynamic and almost poetic - he was literally composing poetry out of movement in 'Akira'. The making of the film was actually even more ambitious, as the original intention was to film it on 70mm film gauge. That was comparable to a scope often found in the epic film genre.
'Akira' is considered as a 'Tech Noir', which is a hybrid between sci-fi and film noir. Our old friends, 'Blade Runner' and 'The Terminator', are 2 further classic examples of this category. Another great word is of course 'cyberpunk', which, in a nutshell, is 'high tech versus low life'. As can be inferred from these categorizations, the most successful aspect about 'Akira' is the stark contrast it has demonstrated throughout the whole film. I guess this approach is quite essential for the content of the film, because to me the central theme of 'Akira' can be summarized in a phrase : power and its control. The whole film is defined by various type of power struggles, and they tend in come in pairs. Science / superstition, individual / institution, psychic power / technology, ethics / corruption, and also the conflicts between various characters and parties. Everyone in the film was fighting for power in one way or another, and the tension was enhanced by the unique style in the film. The central theme of the film will be discussed in the second article, now let's focus on the style.
The high contrast style in 'Akira' represents a delicate balance between 2 styles: Expressionism and Realism. This approach is often found in the genre of Film Noir, and the sensibility of 'Akira' is pretty close to that. While 'Akira' is a colored film, the color tone can be considered expressionistic, and there is a lot of emphasis on shadows and backlighting to expose the underbelly of neo-Tokyo. The artificial colored light emphasized the man-made environment of the cityscape and somehow heightened the danger inherent in this future world. Very much like, or I guess as an inspiration from, Nicholas Ray's 'Rebel without A Cause', 'Akira' is dominated by the color red. From Kaneda's clothing to the reddish haze and color tone throughout the film, the red color signifies urgency, energy and passion. It enhances the desperation which is faced by the characters regarding yet another possible apocalypse. Furthermore, the cultural style also represents a juxtaposition of future and retro, just like 'Blade Runner'. While abound with all sorts of cutting-edge technology, the world in 'Akira' is just as obsessed with issues beyond rationality - telekinetic powers, superstitions and so on. The interaction of the future with the past gives 'Akira' a postmodern touch.
A lot of cinematic techniques have been employed, in many cases they are used to portray the more dynamic and violent moments. Fast cuts, use of slow motion, point-of-view shots, angular shots, and tracking shots can be found in the film and they enhance the dynamic feel and energy in this cinematic dynamite. One of my favorite scenes in the film is the one when Kaneda and Kei tried to escape from the sewer facility with the hijacking of a hovering bike. With the extremely mobile scenes and also the fast cut, that emphasized the dynamic action through a claustrophobic area. The splattering water, coupled with the loudness and brightness of the machine gun fire, constructed a cinematic poiesis which is much more than the average action films.
Another memorable
scene is the one when Tetsuo attempted to escape from the hospital. Due to hallucinations,
he experienced a fast montage of all sort of weird images, and this
expressionistic feel is something one may expect from psychological films like
'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'. Tetsuo becomes more emotionally unstable, due to the hallucinations, and his paranoia and egomania reached a crescendo. While the origins might be slightly different, this scenario seemed to recall the scenario in another of Nicholas Ray's film, 'Bigger Than Life’, where the protagonist, played by James Mason, had reached a psychotic status after he has used a novel drug. In Ray's case, he was suggesting that the drug was merely a catalyst that led to the final breakdown, because he was critiquing how the establishment and the conformist attitude has shaped and impacted the male identity. Thus, we cannot blame the drug as the major reason for the psychosis, it only brings out the repressed feelings that are always been in the psyche. Maybe we can agree this is the case with Tetsuo, because he is sort of a beta male in the group, a personality similar to Plato in 'Rebel without a Cause'. Tetsuo's newfound psychic power, much like Plato's aggression with his pistol, would turn the table on the others. The problem was that Tetsuo could not control the power, and the lack of self-control was what made him an unsuccessful, yet sympathetic character in his world.
With a proper
combination of expressionism and realism, Otomo offers the audience an
imaginary world which is both fascinating and thrilling. While one can be
easily in awe of the imaginations in terms of technology and concepts, he will
also be disturbed that this imaginary world is one that can possibly take place
in reality, because many of the social, political and biotechnological issues
in the film have relevance in our real world. 'Akira' is in no way a pipe
dream; it is a cautionary tale we should prevent from becoming a reality.
Indeed, while the world in 'Akira' is considered a high-tech one, most of the
story takes place in the more depraved areas of the city, or under area of
construction (which will then be destroyed regretfully). The apparent bright
holographic neon advertisements lights cannot light up the darkness and
decadence hidden within the city.
by Ed Law
Film Analysis
