Tales of the Street Corner

Story Writing about works like this is always a bit tricky, because the movie will at best appeal to a small percentage of the people reading this review. The challenge is always to make the show appear as repellant as possible to those that cannot and will not appreciate it, while at the same time recommending the movie to those that will actually like it. Essentially, this 1962 Tezuka short is not for “anime fans,” but “animation fans” – a subtle distinction to some, but a crucial one. Tezuka made the movie long before the stylistic distinctions that differentiate Japanese animation from the rest of theworld came onto the scene. The heavily deformed character designs, giant robots and maid/schoolgirl/robot/whatever fetishes that the medium has become (in)famous for are all but absent. Many will disagree with me on this, but Tales of a Street Corner can hardly be described as “anime” in terms of what the English definition of the word has come to mean. Thus, there is little here that will appeal to the standard Naruto-loving, DBZ-hating anime fan. They’ll balk at the primitive visuals, the slow plot, and the largely experimental approach. They’ll wonder where the kawaii schoolgirls/super-powered shonen have gone, and why most of the “characters” in the movie are actually inanimate objects. On the other hand, a true fan of animation itself (one who appreciates anime not for its now commercialized mass appeal but for its occasional bursts of immense creativity) could very well love this. When Tezuka made the short, he was entirely unconcerned with profitability or broad appeal. Rather, he had his mind on something rarely seen today in the modern Japanese anime industry: creating art for art’s sake. As a result, many people are going to get hung up on the first 20 or so minutes of the short, which is basically nothing more than world building. I found the beginning vaguely charming and entertaining, but Im afraid most are going to become deathly bored by the time the actual conflict of the show finally arrives. By the end, the events in the show are clearly meant to be allegorical; obviously no one would care about the “lives” of posters on a wall or a tree spreading seeds if they did not represent something larger. In this case, they are used to show the effect war has on a community. As a whole, the storyline is clever, creative, and poignant. Basically, this is the reason people will like Tales of a Street Corner, assuming they like it at all. Animation The animation is certainly not on the level of sophistication that has become the norm in modern shows, but is also not without merit. Tezuka uses the technology at hand extremely well, and the visuals as a whole are extremely creative and tell the story well. For instance, rather than animate a walking soldier (who, with the animation standards of the time, would have looked marginal at best), Tezuka opts to show only the soldier’s marching boots. This image alone is enough to put the actual idea of a soldier in your head without getting caught up in the meaningless details. The result lends the short film a universal feel that works well with the allegorical approach of the story. Also, even though the actual animation is limited, the visuals themselves are colorful, vibrant, and nice to look at. Sound Instrumental pieces coupled with the occasional sound effect or two. As a whole, I thought the soundtrack fit the work well - no complaints here. Characters Tales of a Street Corner hosts a plethora of truly bizarre characters. I have already mentioned the pair of walking boots, wall posters and a tree. These are all major characters, and get about as much screentime as any of the more traditional characters in the short (a little girl and an assortment of Disney-esque animals round out the cast). As in most experimental shorts, none of the characters are particularly well developed, and many are intended to be symbolic. For instance, an intimidating poster of a mustached man in a uniform represents fascism, and the one human character in the show, a girl, is probably meant to represent childhood in general. The plethora of characters is used to develop the actual street corner in which they reside into a living, breathing character of its own. By the end, I felt an emotional attachment to the street corner in and of itself - an impressive feat, given the brevity of the work. Overall If the audience can look past the unorthodox approach and the extremely dated animation, they’ll find a surprisingly profound anti-war piece that manages to say more with no dialogue than most shows (or this review, for that matter) could with ten thousand words. Unfortunately, this is a pretty big "if," and most likely only active fans of "the weird stuff" should consider this.

Tales of a Street Corner is produced by Osamu Tezuka and uses a combination of living and inanimate characters to construct a story with a heavy anti-war theme. Sounds bizarre, right? Well, it certainly is and the first half is unlikely to get any other reaction than a few raised eyebrows and smiles as it introduces the characters and setting. Among the cast we find a human girl and her father; a moth; a group of mice; a street-lamp and finally a plethora of various posters containing a large variety of characters. These characters inhabit a street corner that, through clever development, comes off as anentity in its own right that the creators fill with life through musical sequences where all the "components" interact. These sequences are enhanced by repetitive but infinitely cheerful melodies that are quickly replaced with far more solemn tunes when a mysterious person in soldier boots replaces the joyful posters with images of a man dressed in a military outfit and whose appearance is an obvious representation of a cruel dictator. Suddenly, the atmosphere of the movie ventures into darker territories as war breaks out and the characters do their best to survive. As far as conventional storytelling goes, the above is about as much sense one can make of it. A metaphorical interpretation is a lot more rewarding in this case and luckily for the viewer it's not a particularly complex one. It basically shows the horrors of war and the effect it has on a happy and functional community in a clever but simplistic way that children and adults alike can grasp. A large portion of the movie can be seen as more or less irrelevant but these sequences are made a lot more interesting by the insanely creative animation. Make no mistake, the artwork is heavily aged, but there are enough highly interesting visual quirks to compensate for that. In the end, Tales of a Street Corner isn't saying anything you didn't already know, nor does it make you ponder the eternally relevant questions of war. What it does do, however, is introduce you to a charming neighborhood that finds itself victimized by war and allows you to follow its struggle along with appropriate music and nicely done animation. It also makes you sympathize with inanimate characters without any verbal communication and only minimal movement; an achievement in its own right.

- A Masterclass in describing motion through tempo. Osamu Tezuka's second experimental short, and his first of some considerable length is a delightful bag of goodies that slowly reveals its contents the deeper you decide to dig in. Tales of a Street Corner is an experimental animated film that describes a microcosm of a world encompassed within a street while reflecting on the most broadest of metaphysical meanings of life itself - the journey from the optimistic awe that is conceived by innocence to the nadir of nihilism wrenched out by the hidden realities. It could also be seen on a more literal level as the reflectionof war - a reminiscent experience of Tezuka's own childhood being upturned by the second world war. At some moments, there were hints of a subtle criticism towards the regimentalism that pervaded Japanese society following the Meiji restoration and the rebellious struggle of art and artists. This silent film explores the thoroughfare of a certain street in a nameless city through the tedious lives of a certain eclectic group of animals, trees and inanimate objects - primarily composed of wall posters, a spider's web and a shattered lamp post. Their merry and interactive life is upturned when the military, ominously represented by the trudging boots that repeatedly make their presence felt on the street, replace the posters with identical ones glorifying the purpose of war, swallowing everything else in its path and ultimately ending in tragic consequences for all involved. In both "Male" and "Tales of a Street corner", Tezuka establishes a stylistic choice to embrace minimalism in his motion. The animation style often involves still but contrasting frames that linger for moments - generating music using the music as the leading coordinator. The setting of the various wall posters were perfect to employ this technique and accentuated by the vibrant pop aesthetic in the coloring. Given how this film eschewed any veneer of mass appeal, I found it quite interesting how cinematic the movie was at points. Shifting perspectives provided the illusion of a moving camera - particularly emphasized when the posters of the two musicians fly chaotically in the flame kissed skies and the perspective constantly shifts to accompany the driving music and sound effects of the bombing. While it was slow to begin, I found that it added more to the film than it took from the experience by the end. By focusing on a microcosm of the world - not just at the street level, but at the thematic level, a lot is left for the imagination to conjure up. We do not see the chaos being wrought in other streets because of our microscopic focus, but we can conjure up the possibilities because of the looming doom. While not a conventional animated film, this certainly rings the bell of a masterpiece in my books.

Rate a 6 Audio is background not vocal art piece Story Had a good opening that stressed who the main characters were and the roles they played. Only thing i would have added is a little more of a background for some of the same characters slightly later on at some point. Conclusion was unclear. On one had you can see it as tragic as the other you can see it as merciful/just. While telling a story with animated characters with no subtitles or vocals is a real challenge. Which to be fair was handled generally well. Although, the pain the viewer was suppose to take was unknown. Moviesto me are supposed to have their message almost screaming out to the viewer. If they want you to cry they will make you cry. Laugh when they want you to laugh. Here it is like the narrator left the room and left you alone with the band and artist. While you and them can't exactly see eye to eye nor can speak it allows for wide ranges of miscommunications. Art -Worked with story. Art was not as fine tuned as what we see now a days. This art had the feeling it was painted rather than drawn. -art also did a good job at expressing most emotions from those you would not think could express emotions. Sound 10/10 If the challenge was the use of symbolism instead of direction(vocals). For the music got low when a sad moment arrived and upbeat during high moments. Character- unclear other than the minor information given at the beginning. Enjoyment This animation for me is historical. Showed a lot of possible connections and relations one could connect to. Like an evil boss or unfair life. Art major would appreciate this.