JIN ROH
March 8th 2009 22:03
Category: Television
Once upon a time there lived a young girl who decided one day to go visit her grandmothers house, before taking her trip she took with her a basket full of all the goodies and delicacies that she knew her grandmother so loved, tied on her red hood and went skipping off down the road. She hadn’t gone too far when she came across a wolf.
“Where are you going?” the wolf asked Red Riding Hood
“I am going to grandma’s house to take her some things,” Red Riding Hood replied.
“Can I have a look at what’s in the basket?” the wolf asked.
“No it’s all for grandma, now I have to stop talking and go.” Red Riding Hood answered and off she went skipping down the road to Grandma’s house.
Now the wolf was consumed with hunger for what was in the basket for he could smell how delicious it all was so as Red Riding Hood went on her way he swiftly cut through the forest to Grandma’s house getting to it well before the young girl. He killed Grandma and disguised himself to look like her, lying in wait for the girl…
No doubt you are all wondering why the heck the sudden excursion into the realms of classic European fairy tales, has the Green Lantern gone all post modern without warning? Well dear reader I can safely assure you that that is about as likely to happen as John Howard saying sorry to the stolen generation. So why the story then? Airing on Monday 22nd February in the wee hours of the night Jin Roh is an anime feature that relies very heavily on the elements of this classic fairy tale; Little Red Riding Hood. It isn’t the first movie to draw upon this tale as a source for inspiration; years ago there was Company of Wolves which frankly strayed into post modernism and surreal territory whilst blithely ignoring the values of good acting and story. No doubt there will be other films that will draw some inspiration from the tale, although I have to say Jin Roh does a very good job with making a classic fairy tale its basis.
The setting is a nameless country that after having fought in a major global conflict and ending up being defeated and occupied by its enemies finds itself eventually having to rebuild. The mushroom cloud in the faded black and white pictures at the start of the movie would indicate that it’s Japan that is being referred to but as events unfold this is a purely fictional country in a purely fictional war, certainly there are similarities with the Japanese immediate post war experience but there is a lot that isn’t. If anything this fictional country seems to be a fusion of elements, of post war Europe (in particular Germany and Poland) as well as post war Japan.
Certainly looking at the scenery its seems that Capital City, the heart of this fictional nation, has much in common with places such as Krakow, Berlin, Paris in fact only the signage seems to indicate a more oriental inclination, signs being in Kanji. The struggle between the Capital Police Agency and various underground groups from militant trade unions to black marketeers seems to mimic the clashes between the National Police Agency of Japan and various groups from student protestors to Yakuza in post war Japan. As with any nation emerging from the turmoil of conflict and foreign occupation there is a time of turmoil, the Capital Police Agency are the ones who manage to bring some order into this turmoil even though they are effectively restricted to acting in the capital, to act elsewhere they need the permission of the local authorities. Still over time what had been a special unit has managed to achieve rapport with other police forces and managed to stem the tide.
Of course as the forces of law and order grow so to do those of chaos and turmoil, the various militant trade unions, protestors and black marketeers all merge to form a single group called the Sect. It is this group that is the heart of the current crisis engulfing Capital City and the nation. Poorly armed but well versed in the streets, byways and highways of their city the Sect is able to carry out its campaign of resistance against the Central authorities of this nation, relying upon suicide bombers and hard bitten street fighters to attempt to even the odds against the technological might of the Capital Police Agency.
Events open with a major protest underway and the constables of the Capital Police Agency, the special unit as everyone knows it, standing by waiting for local police to give them the go ahead to take action. Constable Fusuke is one of the members of this detachment and the primary protagonist of this tale. If you were to continue the Red Riding Hood analogy you would think that the good constable is the trusty woodsman who saves Red Riding Hood from the teeth and claws of the big bad wolf. A logical assumption to make, but the fairy tale has served as a basis for Jin Roh, it is not repeated in its entirety and the characters are not as depicted in the tale, thus Constable Fusuke is not what he seems, not by a long shot and nor is Red Riding Hood either.
The Sect makes use of young girls that they call Red Riding Hoods to carry arms, bombs and other supplies between various groups of protestors and resistance members. Some times when called for these Red Riding Hoods act as suicide bombers in order to further the cause and objectives of the Sect. It is during the moments of the opening scenes that we see Constable Fusuke confront a Red Riding Hood carrying a satchel filled with explosives; her hand is on the cord that will detonate it. For some reason the constable freezes, he is unable to shoot the girl and prevent the detonation of the device…a fellow constable pushes him down whilst others fire on the girl to stop the bomb from going off. Fusuke survives but only to find himself in deeper trouble…a board of inquiry into his actions.
Jin Roh is a very interesting, well made film the animation reminds of the style of Akira and it has the quality of convincing you that you really are watching a live action film set in an immediate post WWII nation that has pulled itself out of poverty and turmoil. There is a certain liveliness to it all as well as an atmosphere that is hard to define, it is also a tragedy but then again as someone once said, I forget who, aren’t all good stories tragedies? If I have a bone of contention to pick about this film is that its plot development is not a hundred per cent crystal clear – there is intrigue going on but why is it going on and for what motives? Also why is this group called the Sect fighting the authorities, what is there agenda? At the end of the tale it almost seemed as if they were simply just an afterthought put in to give a rationale for the role of Red Riding Hood.
Still at the end it cannot be denied that Jin Roh is a film worth checking out…
“Where are you going?” the wolf asked Red Riding Hood
“I am going to grandma’s house to take her some things,” Red Riding Hood replied.
“Can I have a look at what’s in the basket?” the wolf asked.
“No it’s all for grandma, now I have to stop talking and go.” Red Riding Hood answered and off she went skipping down the road to Grandma’s house.
No doubt you are all wondering why the heck the sudden excursion into the realms of classic European fairy tales, has the Green Lantern gone all post modern without warning? Well dear reader I can safely assure you that that is about as likely to happen as John Howard saying sorry to the stolen generation. So why the story then? Airing on Monday 22nd February in the wee hours of the night Jin Roh is an anime feature that relies very heavily on the elements of this classic fairy tale; Little Red Riding Hood. It isn’t the first movie to draw upon this tale as a source for inspiration; years ago there was Company of Wolves which frankly strayed into post modernism and surreal territory whilst blithely ignoring the values of good acting and story. No doubt there will be other films that will draw some inspiration from the tale, although I have to say Jin Roh does a very good job with making a classic fairy tale its basis.
Certainly looking at the scenery its seems that Capital City, the heart of this fictional nation, has much in common with places such as Krakow, Berlin, Paris in fact only the signage seems to indicate a more oriental inclination, signs being in Kanji. The struggle between the Capital Police Agency and various underground groups from militant trade unions to black marketeers seems to mimic the clashes between the National Police Agency of Japan and various groups from student protestors to Yakuza in post war Japan. As with any nation emerging from the turmoil of conflict and foreign occupation there is a time of turmoil, the Capital Police Agency are the ones who manage to bring some order into this turmoil even though they are effectively restricted to acting in the capital, to act elsewhere they need the permission of the local authorities. Still over time what had been a special unit has managed to achieve rapport with other police forces and managed to stem the tide.
Of course as the forces of law and order grow so to do those of chaos and turmoil, the various militant trade unions, protestors and black marketeers all merge to form a single group called the Sect. It is this group that is the heart of the current crisis engulfing Capital City and the nation. Poorly armed but well versed in the streets, byways and highways of their city the Sect is able to carry out its campaign of resistance against the Central authorities of this nation, relying upon suicide bombers and hard bitten street fighters to attempt to even the odds against the technological might of the Capital Police Agency.
Events open with a major protest underway and the constables of the Capital Police Agency, the special unit as everyone knows it, standing by waiting for local police to give them the go ahead to take action. Constable Fusuke is one of the members of this detachment and the primary protagonist of this tale. If you were to continue the Red Riding Hood analogy you would think that the good constable is the trusty woodsman who saves Red Riding Hood from the teeth and claws of the big bad wolf. A logical assumption to make, but the fairy tale has served as a basis for Jin Roh, it is not repeated in its entirety and the characters are not as depicted in the tale, thus Constable Fusuke is not what he seems, not by a long shot and nor is Red Riding Hood either.
The Sect makes use of young girls that they call Red Riding Hoods to carry arms, bombs and other supplies between various groups of protestors and resistance members. Some times when called for these Red Riding Hoods act as suicide bombers in order to further the cause and objectives of the Sect. It is during the moments of the opening scenes that we see Constable Fusuke confront a Red Riding Hood carrying a satchel filled with explosives; her hand is on the cord that will detonate it. For some reason the constable freezes, he is unable to shoot the girl and prevent the detonation of the device…a fellow constable pushes him down whilst others fire on the girl to stop the bomb from going off. Fusuke survives but only to find himself in deeper trouble…a board of inquiry into his actions.
Jin Roh is a very interesting, well made film the animation reminds of the style of Akira and it has the quality of convincing you that you really are watching a live action film set in an immediate post WWII nation that has pulled itself out of poverty and turmoil. There is a certain liveliness to it all as well as an atmosphere that is hard to define, it is also a tragedy but then again as someone once said, I forget who, aren’t all good stories tragedies? If I have a bone of contention to pick about this film is that its plot development is not a hundred per cent crystal clear – there is intrigue going on but why is it going on and for what motives? Also why is this group called the Sect fighting the authorities, what is there agenda? At the end of the tale it almost seemed as if they were simply just an afterthought put in to give a rationale for the role of Red Riding Hood.
Still at the end it cannot be denied that Jin Roh is a film worth checking out…
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