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Osama Tezuka (1928 - 1989)

In association with Tezuka Productions and ACMI

Covering a broad spectrum styles, the anime of Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) consistently combines seemingly cute characters with powerful post-nuclear sentiments.

Familiar yet strange, European yet Asian, kitsch yet elegant - Tezuka’s iconic animated work affords the viewer an insight into the perplexing formal mutations and weird narrative contortions which typify postwar Japanese culture.

Tickets $11/$9 season pass $30/$25

7:30 Tues 1 May

TV Series

Princess Knight (Ribbon No Hishi) * 1967 Mushi 23’ Japanese + English subtitles (G)

Princess Knight is the original 'girls-own' manga of Tezuka's, and it puts femininity into overdrive with its gender-bending convolutions.

 

 

 

 

 

Vampire (Banpaiya) + 1968 Mushi 22 Japanese with English subtitles

Vampire is a crazy mix of live-action and animation, while The Three-Eyed One is a cute mix of mysticism and philosophical journeying.

 

 

Marvellous Melmo (Fushi no Merumo) * 1971 Tezuka 23’ Japanese with English subtitles

Marvellous Melmo is a tragic tale of a young girl who can change her age with the aid of metamorphosis pills.

 

 

 

The Three-Eyed One (Mitsu Migatoru) + 1990 Tezuka 25’ Japanese with English subtitles

 

 

 

7;30 Wednesday 2 May

Jungle Emperor Leo

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE!

Eichii Yamamoto, 75 mins,
Japan, 1966, Japanese with English subtitles, Betacam. Courtesy: Tezuka Productions Compiled from episodes of the TV series,

Jungle Emperor has a lot of the late sixties charm of the original episodes. Originating from Tezuka’s 1951 manga, Jungle Emperor is a remarkably forward-thinking eco-friendly work.

More than an exercise in the anthropomorphism typical of Disney, Leo (Kimba The White Lion) is a contemplative being, sensitive to the hypocrisy of humankind and conscious of the harsh strategies he must apply in order to achieve harmony between the threatened animal kingdom and ignorant humans.

 

7:30 Friday 4 May

The Fantastic Adventures of Unico

Toshio Hirata, 90 mins, Japan, 1981, Betacam. Courtesy: Tezuka Productions (G)

Dripping with Euro-kitsch, The Fantastic Adventure of Unico is an audio-visual summation of ‘kawaii’ (cute), with a stylistic leaning toward shojo manga (girls’ comics). Unico’s accent on dizzying visual sensations is suggestive of the emotions and themes of Romantic and Gothic sources in this story of a baby unicorn befriended by a kitten, a young girl and her aging grandmother.

A handsome satanic prince is a menacing yet seductive force that propels the melodramatic throb of this darkly cute story.

7:30 Saturday 5 May

Marine Express

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE!

Satoshi Dezaki, 91 mins, Japan, 1979, Japanese + English subtiles, Betacam. Courtesy: Tezuka Productions

Tezuka approached his manga like a stage director, with a stock ensemble of characters. They appear in various guises throughout his work, and Marine Express has just about every famous character playing a role.

A mixture of Murder on the Orient Express and Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Marine Express plays with the seventies craze for incredible trains developed in Japan. The story involves one such invention that slips through a time warp on its maiden voyage.

7:30 Tuesday 8 May

Metropolis

Rin Taro, 113 mins, Japan, 2001, Japanese with English Subtitles, 35mm. Courtesy: Sony Pictures Releasing

Tezuka’s original manga from 1947 was inspired after he viewd stills from Fritz Lang’s seminal sci-fi film.

Through his manga, Tezuka free-forms the narrative and thematic possibilities. This resulting film retains the frenetic and eclectic patchwork of the manga’s adventures, and focuses them in on the inimitable Mitchy - the unisexual robot who was to be the template for many of Tezuka’s cyborgs.