IR Film Review: JINSEI [Greenwich]
The inset of "Jensei" is an interesting play using a context of today which in other cultures maybe depicts a context of popularity but how the intent of society and time disassembles the reality of staying power is the true barometer. Ryuza Suzuki as the director hand drew the entire film over an 18-month period. While certain parts are low fi, as the film expands especially between certain aspect ratios, it uses the idea of practicality to show a window into certain psyches and disconstructs them in a very existential way. The main protagonist is both orphaned and yet embraced and yet never quite feels attached. His father in ways could have been the catalyst for his downfall in certain way but his absence causes the adjacent path. The boy band craze and the building of that brand takes the center narrative (it might be modern but feels narratively soft) in the first half of the film. Each member including the Protagonist is expected to be something maybe they are (or aren't). And yet even in trying to make things better there is always going to be pushback. The first gripping piece of darkness happens in this way, even though the if the opportunity is either born out of pity of guilt, the result and its anger is the same.
The next stage which infers withdrawal is an interesting and yet disconnected passage of time, which the film does ingineously. "Jinsei" doesn't try to explain all the reasons the character does what he does or even what is going on in his head. It is simply creating the environment in how he feels and maybe his idea of rebelling against the system. The same could be said of the director/animator here because it does take a lot of focus and ambition to make an entire animated film on your own much less have it seen by a wide audience. This is a similar path but in a different way to another independent animated (stop motion) film called "Junk Head". Stamina and will power is the name of the game in making these types of films. However every filmmaker makes films for their own reasons. As "Jinswi" moves into its third act after the context of fame overruns its boundary and then a breakdown, the metaphor of the self versus society takes on a deeper meaning in what the filmmaker might be showing the audience. The futuristic context encompassed next is very much surreal in a way despite its best intentions with a helper robot helping to mirror the faceless violence that seems to be happening in a surface world. A very specific intercut between the eating of sushi and the violence of war with one person's face being torn off is bleak but jarring. The Protagonist is not a messiah nor is he a harbinger. He is just a person trying to speak the truth. Sometimes people listen but sometimes they don't. "Jinsei" is a meditation on this theme and does so in its own unique way. B
By Tim Wassberg
