Dog Bites Man

Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pom Poko is literally translated as Heisei-era Raccoon Dog War Pom Poko. The movie Pom Poko is an imagining of what happens when the lazy but honorable masses become aware overnight of the pending collapse of their traditional way of life. As with all tragedies, the characters become almost two-dimensional comic figures staving off the inevitability of progress. And given the characters are silly raccoons, they don't have much chance for success. Oh the comic fun of children's theater.

But if we were faced with a similar ecotragedy, how could we give it a happy ending? I was intriqued (sic) by Takahata's exploration of how the animals would take on such a Herculean effort. For wild uneducated animals to even try to invoke the prophesies of the first International Olympic Committee of against the beast is outside the box -- at least the box we recognize. The movie shows the successes, failures, hopes, and disappointments that these silly utopians have to process as they evaluate their hopelessness.

I like how the plans the raccoons develop could be interpreted as an extreme artistic makeover. They learned early on the violence didn't solve the problem. Their small successes came once they chose to fight the nemesis with dancing, magic, and awe and wonderment. I like how the movie leaves their successes in place, only to be futile in the grand scheme of things. I wonder, what more could the raccoons have done? If we were in their position, knowing what we know from their experiences and partial successes, what would we collectively do to succeed? I mean, this is a movie about desperate efforts that resulted in a string of fantastic partial successes.

I think the unanswered takeaway from this movie is: Is a collection of partial successes good enough to stave off collapse?



A THIEF IN THE NIGHT


Historical Note: in 1994, Japan selected Pom Poko for consideration as its best foreign-language film in the Academy Awards competition. This was the first time an animated film has been been submitted in the foreign-language category.