• Jul 21
• PACO AND THE MAGICAL PICTURE BOOK: Review
• Posted by Deljhp - 21/07/12 at 09:23 AM

Director: Tetsuya Nakashima. Review: Adam Wing.

If you’re not already familiar with the work of Tetsuya Nakashima you should be, at least three of his films deserve a place in your collection. Kamikaze Girls – made in 2004 – is a funny, charming, quirky little movie like nothing you've seen before. With all its surreal charm and outlandish flavours, Nakashima’s movie was made for high definition TV screens. Colourful, refreshing and fun, it’s the dictionary definition of dreamy, whimsical, bubblegum pop – light on substance but heavy on flavour.

Memories Of Matsuko (2006) is a beautiful tale - bewitching, intoxicating and persistently tragic. In Nakashima’s world however, tragedy has never felt so uplifting. Live action, animation and CGI – a trademark of Nakashima’s – combine perfectly, bringing the characters and dance numbers to life with sparkle and vigour. With Confessions (2010) he takes a significant step forward, shifting his attention to the blues and greys of modern Japanese society and grounding his heart-wrenching tale in gut-punching reality. The result is no less hypnotic, but in removing the comic book framework of previous pictures, Nakashima has made perhaps his best film to date..Continue review.

Paco and the Magical Picture Book trailer