Animesque: One bloody mess

» ‘Baccano’ review

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

OOOOS

fter watching great anime

like Cowboy Bebop and
Trigun, I had high hopes for
Ryogo Narita’s Baccano, which
promised a Dirty ’30s setting
and finger-snapping jazz

catchy opening theme and its
clever homage to Snatch. What
could possibly go wrong?
Baccano (Italian for “big
ruckus”) has three plots that
all cut together at random.
The first one, chronologically,
takes place in 1930 where a
young mafia capo named Firo
stumbles into a blood feud
between ancient alchemists.
The second plot, set in 1932,
concerns Eve Genoard, whose
older brother vanishes in the
middle of a war between rival
crime families. The third, and
main, plot takes place in 1931
aboard a transcontinental line
called the Flying Pussyfoot.
Three criminal factions are
competing for control of
the train. The Lemures take
hostages to barter for their
imprisoned leader’s freedom.
The Russo family demands a
ransom from the train company.
At the same time, a ragtag

group of would-be hijackers vies
: to save the passengers. At the

: same time, a shapeless monster
: starts knocking people off at

: random.

This sounded like an

: Alfred Hitchcock thriller in the
: making: a super high-stakes

: standoff, awaiting an explosive
: conclusion. But Baccano

: ultimately fails to deliver

: because the very first episode

soundtrack. I was hooked by the : reveals the ending.

Baccano shows many

: perspectives of the same

: events in order to manufacture
: dramatic tension, but it all falls
: flat when you know who will

: survive. Instead, three stories

: of irrelevant details compete

: for screen time, which kills

: the pacing. The characters are
: supposed to be bound by fate,

: but once causality is invoked,

: it doesn’t matter how many

: shocking revelations or tense

: action beats play out. It’s all

: preordained, so nothing is

: really happening.

The alchemy angle only

: makes matters worse. It feels

: silly as the connective thread

: in an otherwise authentic

: period piece. It introduces a

: number of immortal characters
: whose safety I can be even less
invested in.

None of the characters

develop much either. Jacuzzi
: learns to toughen up and fight

: for his friends, but the rest

: are little more than walking

: gimmicks. There’s Ladd Russo,

: the gleeful psychopath, as well

: as Isaac and Miria, the wannabe
: Bonnie and Clyde duo who

: turn all their scenes into high-

: energy pantomime.

These gimmicks are

: entertaining, but only at

: first. A few episodes in and

: every scene starts to feel the

: same. I don’t know why they

: bother with multiple accounts
: when so much time is wasted

: on static characters with no

: unique perspectives. All that

: does is make the show boring
: and unfocused. I felt like all

: the graphic violence was just

: there to distract me from this
: flaw. Perhaps that’s why the

: blood and guts seemed so out
: of place in what is otherwise a
: technicolour farce.

Baccano has a few good

: things going for it. The

: soundtrack is authentic, the

: animation crisp and kinetic,

: and the localization is fantastic.
: Between the period-accurate

: slang and the perfect Italian-

: American accents (excusing

: the lousy French ones), this

: could have been a great action-
: comedy. Focusing on the train

: robbery scenario would have

: created a tighter narrative focus
: while still allowing the multi-

: perspectives plot.

Cover art for Baccano

 

‘Stepbrothers’ meets ‘Girls’
in French new wave film

» ‘Mistress America’ movie review

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

f you like Greta Gerwig, Noah

Baumbach, and French new
wave, you will enjoy Mistress
America. The dialogue in the
film is similar to the dialogue
in the HBO series Girls, and the
film’s ending is similar to the
end of Annie Hall. Baumbach
and Gerwig’s screenplay has a
lot of great scenes in it that get
the audience laughing.

Director Baumbach

introduced the world to Gerwig
in his films Frances Ha and
Greenberg, which were great,
but were only shown ina
limited number of theatres.
Now more people can see
Gerwig in Mistress America,
and in colour too, unlike in the
black-and-white film Frances
Ha. At 85 minutes, the film
has a fast pace, and Baumbach
could have easily fit more
scenes into the film.

Similar to Frances Ha,

: the film has a French new

: wave look. Some of the film’s

: costume design mimics outfits
: seen in French new wave films.
: The film’s score, made by indie
: band Dean & Britta, features

: the band’s French new wave-
style sound.

In the film, Columbia

: University student Tracy

: Fishko (Lola Kirke) spends

: time with her soon-to-be

: stepsister, Brooke Pinahas

: (comedian Greta Gerwig), and
: helps her open a restaurant

: in New York City. At the same
: time, she writes a short story

: to try to be in a literary club.

: In the beginning of the film,

: we learn that Brooke is one of
: those people who is successful
: without going to college,

: working as an instructor in

: a fitness centre and as an

: investor.

The two lead stars are great

in the film. Gerwig is part of

: a list of comedians that a lot

: of people are talking about in

: the comedy world today: Zooey
? Deschanel, Lena Dunham,

: Mindy Kaling, and Amy :
: Schumer. Greta is like Dunham, !
: except less extreme. She is a

: very talented comedian and

: she can dance, which she did in
: Frances Ha. :
: One of Brooke’s best scenes :
: is when she reunites with a high :
: school classmate in a bar, and

: the conversation leads to an

: argument, while one of Tracy’s

: best scenes is when she goes

: down the stairs and falls, but

: then gets up and acts like it

: didn’t happen. There are also

: beautiful shots of New York

: City including Times Square,

: which Brooke describes as the

: Great White Way. There is also
: a shot of an NYC bridge when

: Tracy spends time with another
: student in the university and

: says, “We look like we're ina

: song.”

 

Still of Greta Gerwig and Lola Kirke in Mistress America (2015) Photo by David Feeney-Mosier