Mark Reviews Movies: POMPO: THE CINEPHILE

Pompo: The Cinephile, GKIDS

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Review by Mark Dujsik | April 28, 2022

For most, the allure of the movies is in watching them, and for some, it's in making them. Pompo: The Cinephile understands both of those ways of loving film, even if its story is definitely a simplified and romanticized account of the appreciation, art, craft, and business of the movies.

Then again, if it were any more detailed and realistic, that might ruin the illusion. If one is the kind of person to make an effort to track down and watch an animated film from Japan about a bunch of plucky filmmakers trying to break into and make it in the movies, there's a good chance that person does believe in the kind of simplified and romantic philosophy about the movies that's championed by writer/director Takayuki Hirao's film.

This is a story about a group of dreamers who grew up with and/or can understand the vitality of that most popular and accessible art form. It revolves around a fictionalized version of Hollywood, called "Nyallywood," and made-up movie studio that primarily specializes in B-movies. The main character is Gene (voice of Hiroya Shimizu), a life-long film fan and production assistant at the studio, which is currently making a special-effects-filled blockbuster about a giant sea creatures attacking the coast line and a bunch of happy beach-goers.

Gene loves movies and has since he was a kid, when he felt like an outsider and an outcast. In the movies, he could escape reality, while witnessing dreams of imaginary worlds and people come to life. Yes, the sentiments here are that gushy, but the bright colors and cartoon-ish designs of the characters transform the tale into its own kind of fantastical dreamscape.

There's the fact, for example, of the eponymous character, the head honcho and perennial producer at the studio where Gene works. Pompo (voice of Konomi Kohara) inherited the studio from her grandfather, who raised her on a steady diet of movies, since it was all he ever knew, as well.

As the studio head, she's demanding and mercurial, although Pompo certainly knows what she wants. All a movie needs for success is an attractive lead actress and for it run no longer than 90 minutes. That Pompo is designed to look like a pre-teen girl, wearing a white dress with a bow and donning pigtails, is odd, although to be expected, perhaps, within the realm of anime and the film's origin as a manga series (created by Shogo Sugitani).

An intriguing and unexplored detail is that while Pompo's real name is Joelle, she's always credited as "Joel." If Hirao is at all interested in the suggested sexism within this idea, it's mainly to treat it as a reality of the business of movies. Pompo's latest find, for example, is Mystia (Ai Kakuma), the star of the monster movie, and as long as Pompo's director gets a lot of shots of the actress in a bikini, the movie should be a success.

Anyway, Pompo hires Gene, who shows an intrinsic knack for editing, to direct a screenplay she wrote. For his debut movie, Gene will be working with legendary actor Martin Braddock (voice of Akio Ohtsuka), as a composer in crisis, and newcomer Natalie (voice of Rinka Ōtani), as a farm girl in Switzerland who gives the composer a newfound appreciation of art and life. Like Gene and Pompo, Natalie grew up watching all kinds of movies, and since childhood, she has dreamed of becoming an actor. The two debut artists share a quick bond over their uncertainty, and it's refreshing how that connection remains friendly and professional.

The rest of the plot is, well, about putting together the story Pompo has written, Gene has connected with and been hired to bring to life, the actors want to bring some human truth to, and the crew teams up to work on schedule, adapt to the changing weather in the Swiss Alps, and offer opinions about how things could be easier or better. There's little that's new to or unique about the story, compared to any other movie about the making of a movie, but Hirao does offer some degree of consideration for and focus on the technical, practical needs of shooting a movie.

Part of it is Gene knowing what he wants to film. Much of it, though, becomes matters of luck and/or opportunity, such as when a storm hits, giving Natalie the idea to have her get into some mud-flinging with her co-star, or when a wolf has killed off some goats that were meant to be in one scene, leading to some simple trickery with smoke and cardboard. All of that allows the animators to show off their own skills, which are noteworthy—especially in the realism of the natural backdrops and phenomena.

Back in Nyallywood, there comes a lengthy and fairly illuminating depiction of editing, that hidden art and often unsung element of filmmaking. That Hirao includes the process, with some fantastical cutaways of Gene "killing his darlings" with a sword, shows the film's genuine affection for filmmaking. That the sequences offer tangible proof of how editing can drastically shift the pacing, rhythm, tone, and intentions of a scene is admirable. It's far more engaging than the subplot involving the financial side of the industry, with the introduction of Gene's high school classmate Alan (voice of Ryūichi Kijima), who's now a dissatisfied banker looking to make an impact. There's notable effort to include this bland character for an equally dull but corny payoff.

Despite some oddities and quirks and that deflating subplot, Pompo: The Cinephile does what it sets out to do. It's a fun and cheery examination of adoration for and the craft of the movies.

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