| I have posted this as part of a review but as this will probably not get much recognition nor stir up any form of discussion I want to create this topic to go a little beyond the facebook-ish 'like like like' and rather hear your thoughts on Tekkon Kinkreet's complex story. I'm hoping to see a few different interpretations or even objections to my own way of seeing things. *** Tekkon Kinkreet picks up a few different themes and presents them alongside each other. Most noticeably the Yin-Yang symbolism which is portrayed with the two brothers. It is important to notice from here on out that the characters’ names are White (Shiro) and Black (Kuro). Shiro is the innocent one who shows clear signs of autism. At several points in the movie we are witness to his vivid and colorful imagination. His interactions with others seem offbeat and his mental development is clearly delayed. Kuro often cannot understand what his brother is going on about while Shiro is cheerfully dancing to his own tune. The old man whom they are friendly with points out how surprising it is for Shiro to be completely unscathed by the city’s dark side. “No one so uncorrupted belongs here”. The way things unfold, we are made to believe that Kuro is the one taking care of Shiro. However, once Shiro is taken into custody by the police, we realize it might have been in fact vice versa all along. Kuro (Yin) - who has lost his anchor – cannot function any longer. He becomes deranged and violent, up to the point where he even takes a puppet for a substitute of his lost counter-part (Yang). The forces tilt so far out of balance that Kuro’s inner demon materializes, the man-eating mythical ‘Minotaur’. In the meantime, Shiro’s imagery continually darkens - culminating in his extreme screaming fit, which symbolizes the battle between light and darkness within the brothers (who can be considered one at this point). Together, they overcome the imbalance and reach a blissful conclusion. The Yin-Yang conceptualizes the interdependence of opposing forces. People are not ‘white’ or ‘black’, they are all kinds of shades of grey. Even with good things there can be a ‘too much’. Ever noticed how annoying these do-gooder anime characters can get once they start preaching about their superior morals? There are many applicable real life examples. Society rewards extraversion, but too much can turn into narcissism. Agreeableness is the core of harmony, yet if you take it too far you will be on the way to self-denial. Ambition means striving for success, its extreme will lead to obsession. Chinese philosophy has recognized this fact of life long ago – and Shiro and Kuro are here to remind us of this principle once again. Kuro wants to protect his world (“my city”) and therefore gets rid of Shiro. You have to become a beast in order to kill one. But he needs Shiro to restore his inner balance once the battle is fought. In a ‘Fight Club’-ian way this might have led to the conclusion that the two had been one all along. Besides this struggle of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ there is also the underlying theme of coming to terms with one’s own self. The drawn out sequence between the Minotaur and Kuro seems to pay homage to NGE’s ending. The scar on Kuro’s hand will remind him of what slumbers inside him and its visibility symbolizes his acceptance of this ‘dark passenger’ (as Dexter would call it). But acceptance means also to move forward, to break out of the cycle. For most of his life he remained in self-deception of his identity (his true being and role in the world). Stuck in the misconception that he was the ruler of a city and caretaker of his brother. With the illusion shattering in a most cathartic way he could let go of these misguided notions and find himself in a much more beautiful place alongside the person he most appreciates. In the end he clearly knew what he was capable of, what he truly desires and needs to live on. The final scene shows him looking at his scar – deep in thought – and then jumping jubilant into the water. I guess that’s what it means to live with your inner demons. The other prevailing theme is that of changing times – portrayed with the struggling yakuza, reminiscent of the “The Godfather” and “Goodfellas”. Of course this change is brought about by the biblical “Snake”, tempting with money and power. Suzuki’s moral objections are meaningless because time moves on relentlessly. Kimura is unwillingly turned into the Harbinger of this new era of profit and greed – leading to the most intense moment of the movie (in my opinion). “The sins of the fathers…” – the never-ending spiral of violence and hate. Besides the environmental (inter-individual) change, we also see in Kimura the intra-individual change. The news of fatherhood makes him cherish life and rethink his choices. Alas, if adapting was that simple, humanity would be rid of most of its problems. Kimura finds his somber end in yet another incredibly well directed and intense moment – almost as if mentioned in passing. And the spiral of violence continues yet again. Not making the right choices or making the right choices too late – is that what it means to be human? While both Suzuki and Kimura are introduced as sleazy and cold-hearted yakuza, they felt genuinely human right before and in the moments of their death. The tragedy of these characters depicts the gravity of the consequences of our actions we ultimately and inevitably conjure – the causality of things. While Shiro and Kuro complemented each other to the point of merging identities – in order to overcome their crisis – Suzuki and Kimura (father and son) were not so fortunate. Maybe if the father had taught his son anything besides “how to whack someone” – and even that he couldn’t do (ironically) to his father’s satisfaction. *** What did you see in this movie? Where would you object - or add another thought? I hope by the time people reply I can still remember enough details to partake in a discussion :) |
VurtoxDec 23, 2012 6:43 AM
| I've been wondering about the title, and I thought "hey, what if I do this." From 鉄コン筋クリート... ...to 鉄筋コンクリート. Tekkin konkuriito. Reinforced concrete. Yeah it's not that much of a great discovery. There're 15,200,000 results on google. So it's easy to see how this phrase plays out in the movie. To retards thinking shit like "yakuza building an amusement" is nonsensical, well it's basically in the title already. But I guess they wouldn't know shit since they don't know shit about Nihongo. It goes with the name of the place they reside: "Treasure City." That's probably the more symbolic one already. Most probably, they're pointing out things like 'memories' are the treasure to the people like Kuro and Shiro (obviously) and Nezumi (when he mentioned the strip club of a person named Genpachi). |
| That's some good analysis. I just wanna mention that It's probably not paying homage to NGE's endind as the manga of Tekkon Kinkreet is like an year older. |
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