Masayuki Sen in Sweet Dreams of the Evil Man.
Totoro
Godzilla (1954)
Katsushika Hokusai's most famous work, The Surf of Kanagawa.
Isle of Dogs 85 points
Movie location: Broadway Cinema Guorui City Store
Attendance: 15
This year is the Year of the Dog, and American independent director Wes Anderson has also handed over a work about dogs, "Isle of Dogs", which is his second stop-motion animation work after "The Great Fox Daddy" and a tribute to Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and Japanese films. The style of the film continues "The Great Fox Daddy", continuing to use similar graphics and character design, which is the second time Thaterson has set the story in Asian culture, and the dubbing cast is called an "epic" lineup. Since its release on Friday, the film has grossed 25 million at the box office, a modest result, but it remains one of the most special and beautiful films on the market this year.
● Source of inspiration
1 Akira Kurosawa
Mayor Kobayashi refers to the face of "Evil Man Sweet Dream"
Through a semi-fictional Japanese background, a Japanese comic book-like plot structure, and themes such as nature, heroism, redemption, technology, and honor, Inuyasha Island naturally flows out of the film, and it is a tribute to the famous Japanese film directors (From Yasujiro Otsu to Akira Kurosawa to Kiyoshun Suzuki) and echoes the monster movies of Japan in the 1950s and 1960s and the film frenzy they caused. Anderson has mentioned the worship of Akira Kurosawa many times, and he has told the outside world that this film that comprehensively refers to Japanese filmmakers and Japanese culture, of which Akira Kurosawa is undoubtedly the most important influencing factor. Akira Kurosawa's film style includes a variety of genres: Bushido, film noir, Shakespeare and melodrama, etc. Anderson mainly refers to Akira Kurosawa's contemporary urban films, and can find the shadows of "Wild Dogs", "Drunken Angels", "Heaven and Hell" and "Sweet Dreams of Evil Men".
Some of the scenes in "Isle of Dogs" I think are similar to Akira Kurosawa's films, but it wasn't until these scenes were filmed that I realized that I didn't deliberately imitate them, but got inspiration from his films, because when shooting, we would think about what would happen in the next second, what would happen to the characters, and it can be said that Akira Kurosawa influenced us more or less all the time. (Dictation: Wes Anderson)
2 Hayao Miyazaki
Absorb the special "sense of tranquility" of Japanese animation
In addition to Akira Kurosawa, Anderson also mentioned Miyazaki's influence on "Isle of Dogs", as early as the preparation of "The Great Fox Daddy", he went to the Ghibli Museum, not only watched Miyazaki's works but also collected all dvDs, conducted in-depth research on Miyazaki's works, "His films have their own ecological views, the most important thing is to be very clever in presenting nature properly, and the protection of nature is always the theme in the film." A major theme of "Isle of Dogs" is also the interpretation of the peaceful coexistence of man and dogs, and Anderson draws a special "sense of tranquility" from Miyazaki's films, revealing a deep and restrained style from the color to the soundtrack.
Hayao Miyazaki is a character we talk about all the time along the way to making movies, and from an American point of view, he is an international film master who has had a very big impact on our generation. I've always thought it would be fitting that the story of this movie takes place in Japan, plus the level of animation in Japan itself is very strong. Someone asked me why I didn't shoot in Japan, in fact, as far as the film form of stop-motion animation is concerned, there are very few countries or regions in the world that do professional, so I thought about the feelings of Japanese film, but once again chose to shoot in the Uk. (Dictation: Wes Anderson)
3 Ishiro Honda
Close-up film inspired 240 physical shooting scenes
Isle of Dogs creates 240 compelling scenes: from the city hall dome painted in red, to the monochromatic science laboratory, to the garbage island full of gray-and-white ruins and its garbage transport cable car in the air — a huge project that even the waves, clouds, smoke, fire, poisonous smoke, sweat and tears that make up the film must be handmade. In addition to Akira Kurosawa, art director Paul Hadro also referenced the close-up films and monster films directed by Hondo Inoshiro (a friend of Akira Kurosawa), who directed the original Godzilla, Raton, Mothra, and Frankenstein's Monster: Sanda vs. Gaira, for example, the film has robot dogs and flying machines, which are actually shadows of the Earth Defense Force, and they also refer to Inoshiro's lesser-known films, such as "Demon Star Gorath" and "Monster Gila".
I'm very immersed in Japanese movies, which is a regular reference point. Early in the project, Wes and I talked about how to make the theme of the film echo Akira Kurosawa's film, so we specifically referred to "Sweet Dreams of evil men" and "Heaven and Hell", and I also used some of the ideas from "Drunken Angel". (Dictation: Art Direction: Paul Harold)
4 Katsushika Hokusai
Prints of the Edo period laid the foundation for the basic visual painting style
The production of "Isle of Dogs" lasted for two years, and the production team consisted of more than 670 people, including a puppet production department of more than 70 people and an animation department of 38 people. Another inspiration for the production team came from the 19th-century and Edo period printmakers: Hiroshige Utagawa and Katsushika Hokusai, whose prominence of color and line had a profound influence on European Impressionism. Their "ukiyo-e" artworks aim to capture their fleeting atmosphere of joy around natural landscapes, long-distance travel, plants and animals, geisha and Kabuki performers. It is worth mentioning that before the filming of this film, Anderson went to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London several times to collect a wide range of collections, and as a result, he collected a large number of woodblock printmaking images and storyboard artists, and then subtly integrated the Japanese folk style into the physical handicraft style of stop-motion animation.
On April 12, 2015, I received the script for the film from Wesna, along with a series of reference images and videos of Japanese prints and pictures of dogs, as well as pictures of a dog statue in Japan. In the video, three drummers violently beat the taiko drum, and the drum beat rhythm sets off the atmosphere. (Dictation: Isle of Dogs animation editor Edward Bochi)
■ Dialogue with Anderson
Set in Japan, the plot resembles the United States
Beijing News: Where is the origin of the story of this movie?
Wes Anderson: In fact, the origin of the film is from Europe, where there have been many small groups of people or minorities who have been expelled and exiled, and in this case the majority has targeted the minority to achieve the political intentions of certain people. In fact, the whole process of making the film I felt more like the United States, because a lot of what happened in the United States is a bit like our story. That is to say, the film is set in Japan, but more like the United States.
Beijing News: Why do you want to take a dog as the protagonist?
Wes Anderson: The nature of dogs is very simple: they are loyal and they need love and companionship, which is the best trait for anyone. If you use dogs to do animation, using this species to expose human characteristics is easier to reflect human characteristics than in real life. In addition, my old partners Jensen Schwartzman and Roman Coppola both wanted to make a movie of dogs being abandoned in the trash.
Beijing News: How to choose the tone in the movie?
Wes Anderson: For example, red is more eye-catching, and it is used to make it visually prominent. Most of the island's hues are white and gray, and the sky in the film is not pure blue, but mostly a mixture of gray and white and dark tones; red is more special in color spectrum and can also highlight human power. In fact, we see different scenes and pictures, all of which are designed and produced with the production process, and there are constantly new discoveries and applications in this process.
Written by Zhou Hui xiaowan