It has been said that several filmmakers at Venice shows up with their “state of the world” movies. Whether it is Luca Guadagnino with its perception of interrupting culture, Yorgos Lanthimos who satirize alt-right-style radicalization, or Kathryn Bigelow which shows our mutually insured madness in a nightmare way, many of our most famous directors seem to look at a world in flow and ask: “How do we here come here?”
Hosoda, a former Studio Ghibli Animator who went freelance and has then become one of Japan’s most successful author, is no different. His last film2021’s ”Belle“, Was a sci-fi adaptation of” Beauty and the beast. “For his latest act, Hosa has not traveled too far from the Baroque fan, which was already more idealized than the relative normality of his mainstream crime -crime hit (and Oscar -nominated)” Mirai. “”Scarlet“Is a loose but clearly intended reproduction of Small villageWith all its castles and knights, ghosts and treacherous uncles – and parties that are not found in Shakespeare’s games as well.
One of the first lines in the dialogue is Claudius (Kôji Yakusho) who plans the murder of his brother; “I have long dreamed of pouring poison into his ears,” he says, but the king is too popular and Claudius must instead frame him to plan with a neighboring country, which enables his execution. Scarlet (Mana Ashida), a young princess, looks up upset when her father’s ruthless books seem to like in her task. After Claudius poisoning her, Scarlet begins her exile into “secondlands”, a kind of shelter, where she plot her revenge along with a horde of people who feel in the same way that are worried about their too short lives.
But this is a Hosoda movie, so things will be much more complicated from it. Like Mirai’s acceptance that he is no longer the man of the house, Scarlet’s most important trip is one of the self-discovery-a quest far from the violent pursuit of justice made by the original prince in Denmark. But there is some of that too. Aothlands is a society of struggling people from all places and time periods, who can still understand each other despite their differences. Scarlet’s journey through them will lead her to crossroads with different characters, beginning with Hijiri (Masaki Okada), a nurse from modern Japan who refuses to convince that he should have died. Shortly thereafter, Scarlet meets a little girl who says that if she was a princess, she would spend her life to make sure the world was lively to little girls like her. It is enough for Scarlet to realize that revenge can be a little self -centered; There are larger fish to fry.
The policy of the lost masses without food or a home is not far from James Gunn’s “Superman”, another well intended but quite vague expression of fighting people and the evil rulers that rob them of life and dignity. Scarlet’s company is even more consciously informed by “Dune”, whose heir to the throne is radicalized to embrace the cause of its former antagonists. Hosoda’s Film asks a similar question that Scarlet made that Frank Herbert’s saga did against Paul Atreides: How much does this story do about her? Hijiri is a paragon of selflessness that teaches Scarlet to live for others is the only fulfilling way. Hijiri even questions his reckless attitude to warriors sent by her uncle to end her and tells Scarlet: “The ultimate warriors fires invisible arrows from an invisible bow.” It’s not really Scarlet’s style, and it’s probably too much to ask to put down the weapons while she is actively being chased. But Scarlet realizes that she has the power to improve the lives of all people in other countries – and maybe even stop some of those who end up there.
Unfortunately, Hosoda’s ideas in “Scarlet” will never be more good looking or interesting than that. There is an overly sweet center in the middle of it. Its end is a holiday for sincerity that, not only boring in its own right, feels unrespresentative for the irreverent character we have just spent two long hours. Despite bloody violence throughout, the “Scarlet” lacks the edge that would make this culture adoption of seminal Western Tale and Japanese art form as memorable or significant as it should be. The first minutes of the film are a breathless, almost wordless introduction to other countries, with Scarlet caught under rotting hands that cling to hold her there. But Hosoda’s expressionism disappears practically thereafter, and a dry order exerts itself when the story is lively back to Elsinore.
For this purpose, “Scarlet” corresponds to a frustrating waste of animation and director’s expertise for the price of an overly common story. The large scale of Hosoda’s success may have softened his narrative instincts, although aesthetics are sometimes remarkable. After writing their last four films alone, it may be time for Hosoda to consider cooperating again. And maybe not with Shakespeare.
Rating: C+
“Scarlet” premiered at 2025 Venice Film festival. Sony releases the film in USA theaters on Friday, December 12.
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