A Tree of Palme - animated Bliss.com
- animated Bliss.com
- Isondill
- 06/12/05
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A Tree of Palme
In a setting of surrealism and visual beauty, Nakamura Takashi (Chief Animation Director, Akira, 1988) places a story that journeys into the complex realms of the human condition like no one else can. A Tree of Palma is a stunningly beautiful and ironic story of how the journey through life is never what it seems.
When a mysterious woman gives Palme (an apathetic robot made from the sacred Kuroop tree) the egg of Touto and charges him with a crusade which has put the fate of the world into his hands, a journey of rebirth and discovery unfolds.
Chased by a mysterious group of mercenaries, Palme teams up with a band of misfits only to discover the complexity of the human condition and what it truly means ?to be alive.?
DVD Features:
? The Making of A Tree of Palme
? Character, Mechanical, and Prop Design Sketches
? Story, Character, Mechanical, and World View Artwork
? 5 Key Sequences with Animatics
? Original Japanese Promo and Trailers
? Insert - ?The Art of Palme? and an Interview with Creator Takashi Nakamura
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INTRODUCTION
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A Tree of Palme is a sort of modern world alternative universe telling of the classic Pinocchio tale. It is from director Takashi Nakamura who has worked as an animated director for NausicaA: The Valley of the Wind (the classic Hayao Miyazaki film) and Akira (which is notably one of the most classic anime films of all time).
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STORY - Rating: 5.5 (out of 10)
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There are more than a few reasons why A Tree of Palme deserves the rating it is receiving. None of them include the fact that Nakamura has bee involved in the making of several other truly great films. That would be unfair to try to compare this to those films. Nakamura is no Miyazaki. Likewise, It is unfair to compare the film to the classic tale of Pinocchio as that tale is one of the best of all time. So how should this be compared? It shouldn?t. That is exactly how I entered my viewing of this feature? and despite my open mind, clear conscious, and hip attitude all I ended up feeling was cheated. At first I thought Palme seemed like a poor man?s Miyazaki film but as the story gradually and unbearably progressed at a slow and disconnected pace I began to think the film was simply awful. For whatever reason this movie fails to deliver on any real entertainment value. Not even the animation could have saved this disaster. The plot is thin, the scenes don?t intertwine (this is due to the poor storytelling maneuvers). A word of advice to the filmmakers: the audience won?t understand what?s going on unless things are explained to them. If there are scenes that should have been in this movie but were not because the audience was automatically expected to just ?understand? it all - that was a poor decision indeed. Nothing in this film makes sense and it?s not because it?s smarter than we are. It has no clue what it?s identity is. That?s why the film gets progressively worse and worse. The lead character, Palme, doesn?t help either by becoming increasingly less enjoyable as a character. He becomes blinded by the passion he has for becoming a real human. It does lead to some of the movies most interesting scenes but it comes out of nowhere. Before the end of the film he was just a bland puppet. There is a scene in this movie where Palme kills a baby deer. Think ?Bambi?. It came out of nowhere and was absolutely horrific and unnecessary. This also makes me remember one of the funniest things about the film. I know, I know, how could killing Bambi be funny? It isn?t. It?s irresistibly hilarious that no one else in the film really dies. There are so many moments in the film where the characters seem to have died (should have) and then pop out of the ground like some of those quick-grow sunflower seeds.
This movie is also ungodly long. It clocks in at 2 Hours and 16 minutes and yet the story that?s been told could have easily been made for a 30 minute long television special The script is the weakest part about it all- the main premise is interesting but the character development, plot details, and overall flow seems to be all a blur. I would love to be able to recommend this film. I can?t seem to have the guts to suggest watching something that?s this disappointing though. If you?re a fan of Nakamura?s superb animation direction then you may want to see this just for some of the amazing visuals. Unfortunately, everything else in the film tanked more than the Titanic.
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ANIMATION - Rating: 10 (out of 10)
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The animation in A Tree of Palme is the highlight of the whole feature. It?s near brilliant and the character designs, backgrounds, and landscapes add real emotional aspects to this otherwise stale release. It might not be worth watching the film just to see some amazing animation but It certainly is tempting. If anything, Palme should have a book featuring all of the art. The film is an achievement in that respect.
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AUDIO - Rating: 8 (out of 10)
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There isn?t any reason to complain about the audio on this DVD. Although, I didn?t feel as though the 5.1 Surround Sound was necessary. It will likely make any fan of this film pleased. There aren?t any problems with its playback or the like. The voice acting seemed fairly weak on both the English and Japanese versions. There was a mixture of good and poor performances.
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EXTRAS - Rating: 5 (out of 10)
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To make up for the lack of a good film (I can only suppose) ADV decided to release this with some real bonus inclusions. There are too many features to really list and discuss individually but some of the best were The Making of A Tree of Palme, Artwork, Animatics, and the DVD Insert which seemed particularly interesting and informative. Extra?s fan will be pleased with this release.
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OVERALL - Rating: 6 (out of 10)
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There are far better films than this. The only sense in which I can recommend watching this is if the animation looks good enough to sit through everything else. In some ways I enjoyed watching this simply for all the amazing artwork. There are also plenty of bonuses to whet the appetites of extras fans. The end picked up the pace a bit and made things more interesting but it was too little and too late. There are few other redeeming qualities.
Posted on Sunday, June 12, 2005 (Archive on Tuesday, July 12, 2005)