Summary
This joyful and film literate animated feature is a sophisticated and clever insider look at the film industry while also celebrating the medium that we all love so much.
When we first meet Gene Fini (voiced by Hiroya Shimizu), he’s a film obsessive. He lives and breathes movies. He’s known for sitting in darkened screening rooms while taking notes. Have you ever felt completely seen by a movie?
Based on the manga by Shogo Sugitani, the animated film from director Takayuki Hirao and studio CLAP is made for film lovers. Set in the fictional Nyallywood, Gene works as a production assistant for the titular Joelle Davidovich “Pompo” Pomponett (Konomi Kohara), a prodigy and producer of “uncomplicated B-movies.” In fact, her idea of a perfect film is one that clocks in at 90 minutes.
After impressing Pompo and the legendary studio head (and Pompo’s grandfather) J.D Peterzen with his trailer editing skills, Gene is given the chance to direct Pompo’s prestige picture. Terrified to be thrown in at the deep end of directing, a path that he never planned for himself, he soon becomes adept at eliciting outstanding performances and shots from Martin Braddock (Akio Otsuka) — the ‘best actor in the world’ — and young ingenue Nathalie Woodward (Rinka Otani), one of Pompo’s discoveries.
POMPO: THE CINÉPHILE is a simply wonderful treat. From the opening mockumentary sequence, it’s clear that this is speaking directly to people who understand both film language and the culture surrounding it. One of Gene’s first tasks is cutting together a 15-second trailer for the web — because it’s the one most people see and directly impacts revenue according to Pompo. Gene’s inner world is filled with edited frames as he works, spilling over into his real life as he replays conversations in a screening room.
Yet far from just being a tribute to the best of what live action and animation has to offer, POMPO is an impressive piece of animation in its own right. While the character designs are deceptively cartoony, based on the simple line art of their manga counterparts, there’s some sophisticated style at play here. When they arrive in Europe for principal photography on the film, the level of background detail is astounding. Non-specific European cities carry all the markers of Paris or Zurich in equal measure. When scenes from the film-within-a-film are shown, the whole thing switches to a letterboxed mode. (It should be noted that there’s currently a producer led crowdfunding campaign to enhance the photographic film style even further).
Filled with references to everyone from Disney to Satoshi Kon, here’s a film that’s ultimately made for a specific audience in mind. While Gene comes to the realisation that the film he is making is for himself as a young filmgoer, then Takayuki Hirao have made this just for you. Plus, it comes in at almost exactly 90 minutes. Even Pompo herself would love it.
POMPO: THE CINÉPHILE is reviewed as part of our coverage of Fantasia Festival 2021.
2021 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Takayuki Hirao | WRITER: Takayuki Hirao | CAST: Tomomi Kohara, Akio Otsuka, Hiroya Shimizu | DISTRIBUTOR: Fantasia Festival 2021 | RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5-25 August 2021 (Fantasia 2021)
