STRAITJACKET
November 5th 2009 00:34
Category: Videos
Original Story by: Ichiro Sakaki
Original Visuals by: Yoh Fujishiro
Director: Shinji Ushiro
Screenplay by: Ichiro Sakaki
Producers: Tomoyoshi Koyama & Tomoko Kawasaki
Starring: Steve Blum (Leiot Steinberg), Crispin Freeman (Issac Hammond), Lara Jill Miller (Kapelteta Fernandez), Bridget Hoffman (Nerin Simmons), Jamieson Price (Reegs), Tara Platt (Filisis Moog), Kari Wahlgren (Rachel Hammond), Keith Silverstein (Jack Roland), Christopher Smith (Falk) & Paul St Peter (Brian Moderato)
Produced by: T O Entertainment & Endeleizo
English Version produced by: Bang Zoom Entertainment
Released by: Madman Entertainment
Running Time: 76 minutes Rating: MA 15
If this movie has a particular flaw it’s that there seems to be a lot more going on beneath the surface than is revealed in the English dialogue, there is a sense of deep heartfelt sadness and tragedy that just isn’t fully realised unless you’re actively reading between the lines and even when you do you’re not quite sure if you have managed to get the gist of it. Plot wise it is also a movie very much patterned on a circular pattern, which to some viewpoints is very much how real life evolves, that comes full circle within the length of the feature. There are no loose ends in regard to this particular tale, it is tightly told and wrapped fairly well by the time the credits begin to roll in the final moments. Fans of the seminal Cowboy Bebop (CB) series will recognise the voice of the lead character in this feature, Leiot Steinberg; its Steve Blum the actor behind the voice of cool, calm collected Spike Spiegel from CB.
So just what is Straitjacket all about? Interestingly the whole thing begins with a rather surrealistic montage of a flashback that you only begin to piece together as the overall story unfolds. Key to this particular flashback montage is the characters of Leiot Steinberg and Isaac Hammond; ably voiced by Crispin Freeman, who in the initial scenes are very young but we see them as full grown men in the core of the story. The world in which these two pivotal characters exist is a world where sorcery and its effect are very much a reality and in many ways a boon to the society of the everyday individual. It all began back in the year 1899 of the Northern Calendar when an experiment was performed in the Cathedral of St Schuman which effectively changes the world as it was and ushered in this age of sorcery employed for the betterment of human society.
This particular titbit of information is provided to the audience via another of the pivotal characters, Nerin Simmons, an inspector at the Sorcery Management Bureau (SMB), a government bureaucracy that as the name no doubt suggests oversees all forms of sorcerous activity. Despite sorcery being a major boon to human society at large it seems that there is a price to pay and that price is…malediction. It seems that malediction is the sorcerous equivalent of radioactive poisoning or fallout, as sorcery became more and more prevalent so too did malediction. The upshot was that continued exposure to malediction could have some seriously horrible consequences, namely the warping of an individual into a hideous bloodthirsty monster that embarks upon a splatter fest in the nearby vicinity killing and maiming all and sundry.
In order to combat malediction the technology of molds was created to prevent an individual from succumbing to malediction and becoming a monster. Mold tech thus enabled humans to maintain their humanity in the face of wielding the tremendous and reality bending powers of sorcery. Of course as with all things the theory is wonderful but not one hundred per cent perfect, things can and often do go wrong. Enter the Tactical Sorcerist, an individual who is essentially the person deployed to eliminate the poor sods overtaken by malediction. Leiot Steinberg is an unlicensed Tactical Sorcerist, one whose operation seems to be tolerated because he eliminates demons as those who have been warped by malediction are called. Isaac Hammond is also a tactical sorcerist, one who regards his works as an almost heroic duty towards the general public; he is of the opinion that people like Steinberg only end up giving people like him a bad name.
Of course the sad thing is that Steinberg, a world weary character realises that what tactical sorcerists do is not some kind of heroic crusade but simply killing because in spite of all the benefits of sorcery and the wonders it creates it cannot cure someone who has become turned by malediction. The only cure that can be offered to those who have become demons is that of a quick and somewhat brutal death. Makes you wonder why people would want to work with such a power, then again just consider the numerous individuals who work with nuclear power in our own world or the thousands upon thousands of miners who work in coal mines and are exposed to all manner of hazards in bringing forth coal to fuel power stations and what not. We sit in our homes and reap the benefits whilst the individuals who create those benefits are at risk each time that they go to work. So it is in this particular fictional universe where the power of sorcery is very much a given and taken for granted.
Then there is the political angle behind this tale, it seems that in the city of Tristan, the fictional metropolis in which the bulk of the action occurs is being beset by terrorist attacks undertaken on behalf of Oddman, a terrorist organisation which initially had a leftist leaning political agenda but is now pursuing a more materialistic course. It seems that this group are behind much of the demonic incidents that have been taking place throughout the city over the course of the feature and that their rational is also been assisted by someone on the other side, it seems that corruption is the name of the game but it all goes horribly wrong for the conspirators when the wrong person is caught in the crossfire. And in turn when ‘righteous’ retribution is visited upon the conspirators this in turn leads to further tragedy and sorrow…
Straitjacket is an interesting feature; I did enjoy it immensely and felt that the vocal talents of Steve Blum and Crispin Freeman along with Bridget Hoffman who voiced the character of Nerin Simmons gave the show the right degree of gravitas for a story that is two parts action, two parts tragedy and one part thriller. Visually the film reminded me a little of Kiki’s Delivery Service mainly due to the depiction of the city of Tristan, it had a similar look and feel to it to the city that Kiki ends up living in during the course of her adventures. One wonders if film makers were influenced by the style of Mr Miyazaki in depicting the city in which their story would occur? Well regardless of the artistic influences this feature is worth tracking down and watching, although when the credits rolled I did wonder whether or not this was an actual stand alone or part of a greater whole. Who knows, it’s something I’ll probably check up on over time.
Original Visuals by: Yoh Fujishiro
Director: Shinji Ushiro
Screenplay by: Ichiro Sakaki
Producers: Tomoyoshi Koyama & Tomoko Kawasaki
Starring: Steve Blum (Leiot Steinberg), Crispin Freeman (Issac Hammond), Lara Jill Miller (Kapelteta Fernandez), Bridget Hoffman (Nerin Simmons), Jamieson Price (Reegs), Tara Platt (Filisis Moog), Kari Wahlgren (Rachel Hammond), Keith Silverstein (Jack Roland), Christopher Smith (Falk) & Paul St Peter (Brian Moderato)
Produced by: T O Entertainment & Endeleizo
English Version produced by: Bang Zoom Entertainment
Running Time: 76 minutes Rating: MA 15
If this movie has a particular flaw it’s that there seems to be a lot more going on beneath the surface than is revealed in the English dialogue, there is a sense of deep heartfelt sadness and tragedy that just isn’t fully realised unless you’re actively reading between the lines and even when you do you’re not quite sure if you have managed to get the gist of it. Plot wise it is also a movie very much patterned on a circular pattern, which to some viewpoints is very much how real life evolves, that comes full circle within the length of the feature. There are no loose ends in regard to this particular tale, it is tightly told and wrapped fairly well by the time the credits begin to roll in the final moments. Fans of the seminal Cowboy Bebop (CB) series will recognise the voice of the lead character in this feature, Leiot Steinberg; its Steve Blum the actor behind the voice of cool, calm collected Spike Spiegel from CB.
So just what is Straitjacket all about? Interestingly the whole thing begins with a rather surrealistic montage of a flashback that you only begin to piece together as the overall story unfolds. Key to this particular flashback montage is the characters of Leiot Steinberg and Isaac Hammond; ably voiced by Crispin Freeman, who in the initial scenes are very young but we see them as full grown men in the core of the story. The world in which these two pivotal characters exist is a world where sorcery and its effect are very much a reality and in many ways a boon to the society of the everyday individual. It all began back in the year 1899 of the Northern Calendar when an experiment was performed in the Cathedral of St Schuman which effectively changes the world as it was and ushered in this age of sorcery employed for the betterment of human society.
In order to combat malediction the technology of molds was created to prevent an individual from succumbing to malediction and becoming a monster. Mold tech thus enabled humans to maintain their humanity in the face of wielding the tremendous and reality bending powers of sorcery. Of course as with all things the theory is wonderful but not one hundred per cent perfect, things can and often do go wrong. Enter the Tactical Sorcerist, an individual who is essentially the person deployed to eliminate the poor sods overtaken by malediction. Leiot Steinberg is an unlicensed Tactical Sorcerist, one whose operation seems to be tolerated because he eliminates demons as those who have been warped by malediction are called. Isaac Hammond is also a tactical sorcerist, one who regards his works as an almost heroic duty towards the general public; he is of the opinion that people like Steinberg only end up giving people like him a bad name.
Of course the sad thing is that Steinberg, a world weary character realises that what tactical sorcerists do is not some kind of heroic crusade but simply killing because in spite of all the benefits of sorcery and the wonders it creates it cannot cure someone who has become turned by malediction. The only cure that can be offered to those who have become demons is that of a quick and somewhat brutal death. Makes you wonder why people would want to work with such a power, then again just consider the numerous individuals who work with nuclear power in our own world or the thousands upon thousands of miners who work in coal mines and are exposed to all manner of hazards in bringing forth coal to fuel power stations and what not. We sit in our homes and reap the benefits whilst the individuals who create those benefits are at risk each time that they go to work. So it is in this particular fictional universe where the power of sorcery is very much a given and taken for granted.
Then there is the political angle behind this tale, it seems that in the city of Tristan, the fictional metropolis in which the bulk of the action occurs is being beset by terrorist attacks undertaken on behalf of Oddman, a terrorist organisation which initially had a leftist leaning political agenda but is now pursuing a more materialistic course. It seems that this group are behind much of the demonic incidents that have been taking place throughout the city over the course of the feature and that their rational is also been assisted by someone on the other side, it seems that corruption is the name of the game but it all goes horribly wrong for the conspirators when the wrong person is caught in the crossfire. And in turn when ‘righteous’ retribution is visited upon the conspirators this in turn leads to further tragedy and sorrow…
Straitjacket is an interesting feature; I did enjoy it immensely and felt that the vocal talents of Steve Blum and Crispin Freeman along with Bridget Hoffman who voiced the character of Nerin Simmons gave the show the right degree of gravitas for a story that is two parts action, two parts tragedy and one part thriller. Visually the film reminded me a little of Kiki’s Delivery Service mainly due to the depiction of the city of Tristan, it had a similar look and feel to it to the city that Kiki ends up living in during the course of her adventures. One wonders if film makers were influenced by the style of Mr Miyazaki in depicting the city in which their story would occur? Well regardless of the artistic influences this feature is worth tracking down and watching, although when the credits rolled I did wonder whether or not this was an actual stand alone or part of a greater whole. Who knows, it’s something I’ll probably check up on over time.
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