Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
April 16, 2007 - Getting Animated
Book of the Dead
On Saturday, T he Gryphon and I spent the early part of the day at an Otakon meeting and then finished up with a film showing that was part of the Philadelphia Film Festival.
The meeting took place in Baltimore and went fairly smoothly. I touched base with both the publications and press relations departments, both of which I'll be helping this year.
I'm helping to edit copy for the program book editor and will also edit press releases. Then, at the convention this year, I'll help the press relations department however they need me.
The meeting had broken into small groups for action items when The Gryphon and I took off to head back.
Before the film we picked up our doggie, Una, from the pet sitters and then went out to dinner at Abyssinia, an Ethiopian restaurant in West Philly. The last time we'd eaten there, the place was almost empty but this time was the opposite, and we had to wait for a table.
Though we'd had lunch earlier that day at the hotel, we were starving by the time our food came. We shared a chicken dish and a vegetarian dish, served on flat bread with lentils and yellow peas. It was a tasty, healthy meal.
Then we headed for the movie, which was playing at the International House on the University of Pennsylvania campus. We stopped for coffee on the way, and boy would we need it!
The film, Book of the Dead, had been billed as the masterpiece of a well-known animator, Kihachiro Kawamoto, but it dragged with many repetitive actions so that both The Gryphon and I were falling asleep.
Though the stop motion animation was at times exquisite, the doll-like main characters registered no emotions, which often made interpretation of scenes difficult. The movie was based on the story of an 8th century young noble girl torn between religious devotion and a romantic obsession with the ghost of a warrior.
While that sounds like the setup of an intriguing film, the action frequently stalls as she engages in devotional activities, such as making 1,000 copies of a Buddhist scroll. I am not kidding.
Lest someone assume that the problems were cultural, I'll mention something The Gryphon overheard on the way out of the theater. A young Asian man was telling a friend that, though he is very familiar with Asian culture and history, he found the film incomprehensible.
More Musings on the 2007 Philadelphia Film Fest:
April 10, 2007 - All Singing, all Dancing
April 13, 2007 - Short Stories
April
17, 2007 - Laughter and Tears
Musings on the 2006 Philadelphia Film Fest:
April 4, 2006 - Sweet Masterpieces
Musings on the 2005 Philadelphia Film Fest:
April 11, 2005 - Film Style 5+
Musings on the 2004 Philadelphia Film Fest:
Moral:
Religious devotions don't create much excitement on the big screen.
Copyright
2006 by Alyce Wilson
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