Dear Internet,
It
seems I made a mistake. I had said last
time that I was going to review a 1969 film named "1001 Nights." I had thought I was going to watch the one
connected to Ozasmu Tezuka called "One Thousand and One Arabian
Nights." Instead, I was going to and
have now watched the 1999 short film called "1001 Nights." I apologize for this mistake and will make an
edit to the previous entry to reflect this error.
The movie
is short, really short. Clocking in at
24 minutes, it would better for it to be called an episode rather than a
film. In many ways, it would actually
make sense considering the film's history.
"1001 Nights" was supposed to be the first short film in a
series of animations linked together with full orchestrated pieces. One can think back to "Fantasia"
for the closet similarity. From what I
can gather about searching for the series, called Filmharmonic," there
were to be another three pieces featuring directors Paul Verhoeven, Tim Burton
and Renny Harlin. Sadly, there were financial
problems and management problems that plagued the project to the point that the
rest of the shorts were canceled. Some
of these problems can be seen in this production. One thing that showed its already present
financial problems is the fact that this was supposed to be completely animated
in CGI, but I am getting ahead of myself.
"1001
Nights" tells the story of Princess Budu's dream as she sleeps. She dreams of fairies, spiritual beasts,
Arabian castles, and various other ethereal images. Budu thinks fondly of Prince Kamar, her
lover. They intermingle and passionately
make love. Meanwhile, a terrible figure
born from nightmares looms ever on the sidelines.
 |
| Budu sleeps peacefully despite her dreams. |
That is
about it for the story. There is not
much, and the film is ready to admit to that.
The point of it all, however, is not to spin a yarn. The film is foremost up front about the fact
that the whole thing is a dream. The
visuals are what is being showcased, and for the most part does a fine
job. The art style is constantly shifting. One minute, it is a plethora of washed out
watercolors depicting a caravan of carnivalesque clowns. In the next, a series of CGI towers scrape
the sky. Afterwards, fairies dance in
the air with only minimalistic lines outlining their silhouettes. The colors explode off the screen at times,
while other times they mix together like pigments bleeding together on a
tie-dyed shirt. All of this creates a
specific mood for the various segments.
When Budu and Kamar rest beside one another upon the bed, the visuals
slow down with little color to reflect the calm atmosphere of the scene. On the other hand when the couple is chased
by the malignant spirit, saturated colors sit atop a black velvet canvas that
shows the emptiness that wishes to ensnare them. The film does a wonderful job of creating a
visually exciting atmosphere that reflects the musical accompaniment.
 |
| A line drawing illustration shown here could either be a stylistic choice or a reflection of how the project needed to reduce its budget. |
The
music, which is a key element, if not the cornerstone of the film, is magically
played out. The Los Angeles Philharmonic
plays an original piece made for the film, and for the most part fits
perfectly. There are times that the
music does not fit the current scene.
Most notably of the inappropriate tempo occurs early in the film in the
sequence with the carnival characters parading before Budu appears. The beat is much too hard and fast for her
character introduction and excites the viewer too early. Instead of creating a single climatic crescendo
to the film, there are a series of smaller peaks that lessen the effect of the
final escape of the couple. While this
might seem that the film, and the music for that matter as well, is a series of
small ramps that smoothly go back down after reaching unnoticeable crests, I
would be misleading you as to the excitable nature of the film. There is a nearly constant sense of exhilaration
throughout the score. After having
watched it twice, I felt my pulse race both times. Although, this might be an occurrence that would
be hard to duplicate.
"1001
Nights" is artsy. It is deep in symbolism
and representational figures that calling it "artsy fartsy" would be accurate. It is so "artsy fartsy" that it
probably ate a whole can of Goya beans. Watching
this film in an effort to obtain a narrative or a coherent story would be rather
futile. Even some of the characters for
no apparent reason act radically different with no explanation. The fairies appear multiple times throughout
the film. Sometimes they fight against
one another while other times they kiss. The dark spirit seems to at times act against
the couple but will also push them together.
The differences strike against one another so hard that they contradict
one another. If taken within the
confines of a dream, it all makes sense, but that is because dreams, by very nature,
do not make sense. To enjoy "1001
Nights," rational thought must be thrown to the wind. Thinking as a whole must be forgotten, at
least for half an hour. Pure emotion is
the course of action. Only emotion, as malleable
as when we are asleep with the lightness of the world upon our minds, should be
left within the head of the viewer.
This is
a problem no matter how you look at it, one big enough to prevent another film
to be made. There is nothing wrong with
wanting to affect the audience with emotion and feeling. If you did not, you most likely have nothing
of note to be said. The problem with
"1001 Nights" is that it wants to do this in a purified form to the
point of willing to lose its audience. As
I said before, the whole thing is a translucent dream. It is at least linear with the story, but the
rest of it is a twisting and turning presentation that can confuse the
viewer. It might even be purposely trying
to confuse the viewer which would be a terrible strike against it. What the film looses by throwing out a
concrete mode of storytelling is not equivalent to what it gains in being able
to represent abstract thoughts. A
complete lack of dialog short of the few word said in the beginning about the
premise is another hurdle for the viewer.
I only mention this because with very little solid visual clues that
sometimes mislead the audience, auditory clues would be the next bet but are
absent.
Then
there is the problem with the intended audience. "1001 Nights" has only gotten a
home release in Japan. This is most
likely due to the fact that the art was conceived and designed by Yoshitaka
Amano. He is the man behind nearly every
"Final Fantasy" promotional illustration or title logo art. From what I understand, the film had originally been shown alongside a live performance by the L.A. Philharmonic. What occurred was a washed out effect for the
film due to the numerous small lamps that the musicians required to be able to
see their music sheets. The abstract
nature of the film can leave the viewer scratching their head raw if they are
not careful or think too much about it.
All of this adds up to an intended audience member being a concert attendant
who wants to experience the visuals of a Japanese artist while foregoing objective
storytelling for pure emotional expression.
The nature of the "Filmharmonic" project was extremely limited,
which is probably what caused it to ultimately fail. Unlike "Fantasia" which was meant
to be enjoyed by the masses and reach a wide audience, "1001 Nights" seems
to want such a specific audience that it did itself in.
The
film is enjoyable and rather well done.
As I said, the visuals are none exceptionally well, and the musical accompaniment
can be enjoyed by itself. The biggest
thing that holds it back is the presentation.
Choosing to tell such a roundabout story and hoping that the audience
can figure out to not care about figuring out the film is what prevented it
from reaching a bigger audience. Perhaps
if the rest of the short films were made, there might have been a chance to
market them together either in theater format or home media, but that boat has
long since sailed. Instead, one can
either dig up this obscure gem and enjoy it for what it hoped to be or leave it
and understand why no one else picked it up.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
P.S. Tomorrow is "Ichi the Killer: Episode 0."
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