The Japanese anime flick "Metropolis," based on the 1947 Japanese serial manga (graphic novel) by the late pioneering artist Osamu Tezuka, is a new look for the same old conflict between technology and humanity.
The film, which premiered in Japan in 2001 and was recently released on DVD by Columbia/TriStar, takes a few major liberties with the original story. Originally, there was no Rock, a pivotal character in the movie version, who's bent on destroying all robots to preserve human power. And the main character, Tima, was, in the manga, drawn as androgynous, and the name was Michi.
This information is included in the bonus mini-disc that offers interviews with director Rintaro (whose works include "X" and "Galaxy Express 999") and screenwriter Katshuhiro Otomo (who is widely known for his breakthrough Japanese animated feature "Akira").
Despite these changes, however, this DVD is a treat for the eyes.
By using conventional cell animation and seamlessly combining and mixing in computer animation, the work itself testifies that technology and humanity can work together for a common goal, which is also the theme of the movie.
Taking cues from Fritz Lang's silent 1926 classic of the same name, Tezuka's "Metropolis" is set in a megalopolis that has not only grown outward but upward. While the robots in the Lang movie were just being built, the Tezuka version already has robots doing the city's grunt work, as the humans carry on with their own lives.
While there are other similarities to Lang's film — robots being mistaken for humans and the bad guy (Duke Red) being a high-ranking city official — the Tezuka version also explores Stanley Kubrick/Steven Spielberg "A.I." territory. Tima constantly asks herself, and her companion and savoir Ken-Ichi, if she's human or machine. And viewers will ask the same question when gunmen rip apart a human, only to find it's a robot. (The DVD is rated PG-13 for violence and images of destruction.)
However, the feature isn't just a feast for the eyes; it also pays homage to silent films with closing iris lenses for its transitions. It will appeal to audiophiles as well. While some choices for background music may, upon first hearing, seem odd, they work well. (For example, Ray Charles' sweeping "I Can't Stop Loving You" played during a big riot scene. The juxtaposition of that glorious song crooning over images of destruction magnifies the cliche, "This is going to hurt me more than you."
Known as the godfather of anime, thanks to such mangas as "Astro Boy" and "Kimba the White Lion," Tezuka, who passed away in 1989, actually didn't want his manga to be made into a movie, as documented on the bonus disc interviews. So who knows what he would have said about "Metropolis."
It might have been interesting if the film had stayed true to the original '40s art-deco style and characters, but for anime fans, the new "Metropolis" is a stylish trip into the future that provides great fodder for discussion by amateur anime philosophers.
E-mail: scott@desnews.com