Casshern, a 2004 Japanese adaptation of the similarly titled anime series was written and directed by the movie genius, Kazuaki Kiriya. The movie begins with narrating the fifty-year war between Europa and the Eastern Federation. The protagonists of the film are Tetsuya, the son who is in the war to beget ill-will from his father; Tetsuya’s father, Dr. Azuma who is the head scientist of the Eastern Federation. Dr. Azuma, through his research, discovered Neo Cells, human cells that can form a person’s body part without the problem of being rejected by the patient’s body. This is hoped to cure his wife who has become sick due to pollution. The council did not support Dr. Azuma but a military adviser named Naito supported his research to develop the Neo Cells. This is where the conflict begins, the evolution of the Neo Cells which led to a battle between humans or Homo Sapiens and what was dubbed as Neo Sapiens. Tetsuya eventually was referred to as Casshern, a divine being whose figure makes several appearances in the motion picture.
Casshern has been compared to a number of contemporary films like Able Edwards, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Immortal and Sin City. This is one of the first feature-length pictures that were shot on a digital back lot where except for basic stage elements, everything is added digitally. The director, Kazuaki Kiriya is said to have been inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Russian Avant-garde.
The beauty in watching Casshern, in my opinion, is the complexity not only of the plot but of the characters therein. It has tackled a number of social issues without trying too hard. The ability of the movie to hook the audience as the story unfolds is a manifestation of the mastery of the movies’ film-makers of the ins and outs of cinematography. It is not hard to get lost in the barrage of intellectual insights and harmonious interaction of the film’s protagonists and antagonists. Every single character played an important role in the making of the film as a whole; no role is big or small nor any detail immaterial. This film is a must-see for anyone who is out to find the gems of Japanese cinema.
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