Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: INU-OH [Fantasia International Film Festival 2022 - Virtual]

The amalgamation of the old and new and that which is accepted and that which is rejected reflects in perspective, even in popular culture. “Inu-Oh” (Axis) is an interesting animated tale pulling on the essence of the Koh theater. While certain Far East animation and mythology does have constructs of malformed entities trying to find their way, the consistent theme is being shunned from society for not being proper or correct (an interesting construct in the world of cancel culture). The interesting aspect here is that the trajectory of Inu-Oh as a character is so joyful at the beginning because there is no expectation. He is a monster...a freak. What is unusual and perhaps ironic is that the narrative progression even though it is set centuries ago reflects the notion of celebrity and its fickle nature. Inu-Oh connects with a blind Bika priest who himself had a trauma in his earlier life. It is the texture of a priest almost of a nymph who falls from grace. What causes his blindness really takes to task the eventual resolution and placement of his values.

The use of different animated mediums all within the confines of 2D by director Masaaki Yuasa really gives a texture that is missing from modern 3D animation. Here there are edges and mistakes per se which really allow for those great non-physics correct moments that would look like a glitch in 3D but have an unusual organic quality here. The film does shift halfway through into almost a rock opera. It does lose its humanity a bit but picks up a bombast that can be at times riveting, even if some of the animation is repeated. One specific sequence at night with a rock concert setting and shadows of fire on a large wall feels like something like Queen would do. The physicality of performance element of Inu-Oh as a character but also the musical context of the voice really comes together, especially in the context of the riding of a whale and the chant that mirrors it. As the journey heads towards the end, like many rock biopics, the aspect of creativity, authority and the need to consume comes to a head in a climax that is more metaphorical than tense filled. The story becomes more about two creatures of creativity coming together, making great art that invigorates the masses and then disappearing in a way because the journey is fulfilled and becomes normal. The light burns bright but for reasons cannot remain even though the intent does. B

By Tim Wassberg