
Mind Game (2004) (Japan)

Director: Yuasa Masaaki

The film garnered the Ofuji Noburo Award for Mainichi Film Awards for 2005. No synopsis is needed, just go watch the film ... hee hee

My thoughts:
-- Most audience will leave the theater being amazed by the * highly imaginative * work ...

-- The use of color is interesting too ... there are scenes with shades of only one color to those with multiple colors, which coincide/depict the moods of the characters ...
-- There are many different styles in the film ... from rough drawings and collage to computer animation, rotoscoping and use of real faces, etc ...
-- The pacing is good ...
-- Overall, the film is rather philosophical ... about living life to the fullest ...


What could be better ...
-- Unfortunately, the songs were not translated ...
-- As for the plot, one really have to watch till the end to fully understand ...

Conclusion:
Wow ... another very different animation ... recommended!

By the way, it is for mature audience!

Question and Answer:
(With the director ... gist, not in verbatim)

Q: What motivates you to include real faces with the animation? Are the faces those of the dubbers? Are the animated characters modeled after the dubbers? 
A: I wanted to make the film feel real, so I included the real faces. Yes, you are right, they are the faces of the dubbers. No, I did not model the characters after the dubbers, but luckily they somehow fit in with the drawn characters ...

Q: How many people and how much time was involved? 
A: Initially, I worked alone for about 4 months ... then later 5 people ... then 500 people for about two years ...

Q: Who inspired you? And what was your favorite scene? 
A: (I am not sure if it was due to poor translation but he did not seem to answer the first question precisely ... he answered about directors being able to work freely) ... (for the second question) I like the mother asking the kid to drink the milk scene ...

Q: Which character did you identify with? 
A: Ha ha ... although most directors tend to identify with the main character, I spent most effort on the Yakuza ... maybe due to age ... Anyway, I made the main character younger, about 20 odd ... but in the manga, he was 40 odd ...

Q: How did the story come about? 
A: The story was based on a manga ... but I wanted more people to read it ... so I made it into a film

Q: How did you get the budget to make the film? 
A: Well, it was from sponsors of DVDs and VCDs, etc ...

Q: What are your present work/future plans? 
A: Well, I am now working on something for TV, but the story is not from manga ...

that's all