Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh until Thu 19 Jan

Eric Khoo / Singapore / 2011 / 96mins

On Sunday, Tintin won the Best Animation Golden Globe, hinting at the popularity of increasingly realistic animation and graphics. While the graphics of Eric Khoo’s biopic of Yoshihiro Tatsumi are similar to the films of Studio Ghibli, the story is far more human than the adventurous tales of the boy reporter. Beginning with Tatsumi’s childhood, the film tandems his progression as an artist with his ascent into adulthood. Fragmenting the chapters of his life, animated depictions of his popular gekiga (adult manga) stories splice the biographical narrative.

Born in 1935, post-war Japan features heavily in both Tatsumi’s life and work. This means it’s sometimes confusing between what’s biography and what’s gekiga as the subject of both can be dark and gloomy. Despite its modernity, the graphics are a far cry from the clean animation of films like Arrietty, instead choosing a rougher, often black and white style appropriate to the frequently bleak content of the film. The prominent theme of how to continue entertaining the many enthusiasts of Tatsumi’s artistry, while discouraging younger readers from the inappropriate content, is still relevant today. Computer games are frequently chastised for their portrayal of “realistic” violence, whereas the work of Tatsumi shows that violence and other adult themes don’t need to be realistic to have a profound impact on their audience.