Permutation City Blog

The trailer for this film is fairly mysterious and I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Something is going on, it's bad, and it's not clear exactly why it's happening. This film manages to achieve a lot while avoiding many graphic scenes that it could have included.

I was suprised by this film. From the trailer I was expecting it to be fun but, as a big Hollywood blockbuster, not much else. It was fun to watch someone who was on one hand a superhero and on the other hand a drunk. He saves a public relation guy who in turn wants to change things for him. However there's more and I suggest you watch the film to find out what.

Coming out a couple of years before the award winning Spirited Away this is the film that led the way. It pays much more attention to Western audiences and has a reasonable dub, although I prefer subtitles. It deals with environmental issues, a common theme in Miyazaki's work, but also acknowledges that progress can bring benefits. Many characters' actions cannot be considered as good or evil but hover somewhere in between. I particularly liked the Kodama, tiny white forest spirits, with strange heads (but in a good way.)