Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: A NEW DAWN [Berlinale - Berlin, Germany]
Certain anime conjectures itself in realism while approaching ideas of mortality that equates itself with a supernatural twist. Some are bathed in the mundane as a form of memory that comes to fruition through the tendencies of the main characters. "A New Dawn" [Competition] directed by first time helmer Yoshitoshi Shinomiya works in elements of the latter. It follows a group of three young adults, two by blood and one by proximity that used to be part of a great fireworks family. But with the change of industry and the filling in of an inlet that is vital route to their wellbeing in a rural town, life in that way seems lost. Their house, two of theirs anyway, is slated for demolition. One of the group tries to protect the home through more bureaucratic means (though he now lives in the city) which works to a small idea of fruition whereas his laid back brother Sentaro (whom seemingly had authority issues when he was young) has something bigger in mind. Sentaro though has stayed at the house and built it in certain ways. He doesn't want to leave but has to. Kaoru is the two young men's female friend who grew up with them. The big idea is to try to preserve some degree of the magic of the place. They speak of a special event called Shenduri (sp) which happened when pirates came into the inlet as a cyclone hit hundreds of years before. Their firepowder went up creating a completely unique phenomena which is spoke about as myth centuries later. Sentaro and his more civic minded brother Keitaro are at odds with how the shutdown of the domicile (which is quite big) should be handled but it is Kaoru who is the most effective, focused and emotional because this is the only family she has known. After Kaoru and Keitaro return from Tokyo (where they live assumingly) to the rural village, it is a back and forth push between what would be best for them and also be able to lift the village.
There are lots of sequences of the making of soup and the pouring of the fermented liquor which is the style of certain niches of these types of anime to show slice of life. The colors are bathed in still life that is both enchanting but at times lacks pace but the background also ripples on purpose. There is not really an overuse of sweeping imagery or any CG but the use of deep focus at times is really well handled. As a disaster starts to unfold towards the end of the film, history tends to repeat itself but by design. Santaro, possibly suffering from mental problems or a ego grandeur moment, pushes the possibility to the hilt because, as his father's son (the original firework maker who is given up and spends his days fishing in a doomed inlet), he knows what it will take to put on a spectacle not seen in ages. It might be the destruction of everything he knows but in his eyes it is worth it. "A New Dawn" is not necessarily about absolutes but about solid choices that once committed to cannot really be undone. The climactic resolution is meant to show this and some of the fire elements are cool but not as cinematic as one would think. It is actually another sequence when the three (especially Keitaro) are under the influence of alcohol when the perspective and part of the medium changes. It is stark but is vividly original in such a film though it is short lived before it returns to the classical 2D animated style (which is beautiful in this context but has been done in better ways in recent films (like "Suzume" at Berlinale a couple years ago). However this is a first approach from a new director so the voice should evolve. And to be on a platform such as Berlinale out of the gate with this film (since they usually only show one of these anime features each year), it is a beautiful endorsement to make more vivid content in this manner. B
By Tim Wassberg
