A film by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya
With: Riku Hagiwara, Kotone Furukawa, Miyu Irino, Takashi Okabe
Keitaro lives in a fireworks factory that is about to be shut down. He is determined to unravel the mystery of the Shuhari, a mythical firework created by his father before he disappeared without a trace – and launch it before the factory closes.
Our rate : ★★
We didn’t know exactly what to expect from this Japanese animated film in the selection. The first images provide a clear answer: this is a film that draws equally on Studio Ghibli and the world of manga. The opening scenes conjure up a world of precision and symbolism, but also comic motifs that we already saw in Goldorak. The artwork features panels that render the settings with great precision, making nature appear wonderful and beautiful, but also takes the liberty of depicting caricatured characters, whether in their gestures, their boundless energy, or their highly exaggerated facial expressions, influenced by Japanese and Eastern theater (which can also be found in the West in the commedia dell’arte or puppet theater). The characters get confused, squabble, fight, battle each other, either verbally or with sticks, and almost fall into the void, in a frenzy that is far removed from any resemblance to reality. However, we follow a young woman who is invited to escape her provincial life and follow a very different path, studying at university in the city, before, unbeknownst to us, returning to her homeland to carry on her father’s plan. A highly allegorical manga, but also deliberately incomprehensible in its dialogues, which are conceived more as elements of atmosphere than as real narrative markers, the overall idea being to make the viewer lose their connection to reality in order to fully appreciate the supernatural and magical mix that the whole film is building up to. Its sole (successful) goal: to offer a flamboyant sound and light show. In this respect, we are very close to the magic of Miyazaki, without his universalism—the film will probably appeal more to adults than to children. Ultimately, A New Dawn offers us an enjoyable experience.