Sakuran
I really have a problem with films I actually like and want to write a lot about, but then end up not knowing where to begin and pushing back blogging about it for the longest time. In this case, Sakuran is not some masterpiece, but extremely good. Quite a few months ago, I have seen this posting on the Manga Jouhou Blog and even though I really dislike Anna Tsuchiya, I immediately fell in love with the colourful backgrounds and the fact that Shiina Ringo provided the music. Look at the screenshots and see for yourself, because the beauty of the film cannot be described by words alone. I also have read that the director is a female (!) photographer who made her debut with this film. You can easily see that – every screenshot looks like a photographic composition.
Therefore, I expected am extremely good-looking film with even better soundtrack. I was right with my expectations, but Sakuran is more than that.
The whole story is chronological (unlike the manga, which starts with how Kiyoha became oiran and then becomes chronological) and it is more faithful to the manga than I have expected. A lot of scenes and dialogues are taken out of the manga, of course with an original ending (an end which Moyoco Anno herself would never have written, by the way – that is so NOT her). But since she stopped drawing the series, the film had to include a proper ending. (She is rather slow anyways, it seems. Hataraki Man seems to moving on rather slowly too, even for a monthly magazine.)
Because I was so amazed by the film, I ended up reading the manga again today: It’s rather difficult to compare the manga to the live-action, aside from the story, they have nothing in common. The atmosphere of the anime is marked by the director’s unusual background settings; the character and personality of Kiyoha is very well-portrayed by Anna Tsuchiya, but nevertheless, she looks totally different from the manga’s Kiyoha. Also, I don’t consider Moyoco Anno’s characters sexy in any way, and Anna Tsuchiya (even with her punch-me-face) does those ‘sexy” glares quite well in my opinion.
On a side note, I really, really dislike Anna Tsuchiya. It annoyed me how she got to do the first OP and second ED for Nana, I really dislike her face and voice, but I have to admit that she’s a good actress. Much much better than the lolita girl in Shimotsuma Monogatari (whatever her name was). The worst is her (natural?) smile though – she does much better as mean and ill-spirited Kiyoha *ehehe* That’s also why I think that this role suits her so much – I could not imagine any other japanese actress to play this kind of role so well. Unlike her, those all give off that “nice girl” feeling.
(And did you know that she’s half japanese, half caucasian? I totally have not expected that – I mean, she doesn’t even look half as good as Olivia *tehe*)
Oh, but there is a scene where Anna Tsuchiya actually looked good in! It was the point where she went to see her lover and her face was covered by rain, her cape and hair so much that you barely saw her face. So what was left was her desperate, glaring look without any make up which made her much more natural and beautiful than in any other scene of the film.
It’s not like I really disliked the make-up though. I love the outfit (cast aside the hairstyle which I whole-heartedly find ugly) and especially how there is a little bit of red eyeshadow applied on the outer corner of her lids.
Congratulations if you have kept up with my long ranting until now. There is even more what I want to say about it, but I have forgotten it… aaaah!
Oh, while searching for a movie poster, I recalled what I have forgotten: The german poster says something like Sakuran is just like “Memoirs of a Geisha” mixed with “Marie Antoinette”. Well, there are several voices comparing Sakuran with Marie Antoinette (unrealistic history film with modern soundtrack), but even though both films are directed by women and put an emphasis on looking good, Sakuran looks like thousand times better and the music, no matter how modern it is, matches the atmosphere perfectly unlike that pseudo-poprock crap in Marie Antoinette. All in all, Sakuran has a much higher re-watch value and didn’t bore me for even one second.