“Fractale” is a story of world consumed in technology and yet primarily rustic in its appearance. The series does bring up a texture of life experience versus life downloaded but the overall instinct lends itself with a bit of irony.
Disc 1 The presentation of a story of almost reverse technology tends to idealize the notion of simplicity over the ideas of “progress”. Religion, as with all things, takes its approach in the process but requires a sensibility to frame it in context. Here, the Fractale system can be seen as both a calming force or a means of control, as long as it is used for that specific reason. The key in telling the story is, of course, self-reverential. The character of Clain does find himself between two worlds in his ability to access the technology but has a love for analog things which, more often than not, opens new possibilities for him where none might necessarily arise. A young woman, a priestess of sorts, falls literally into his life and he is smitten. Now granted he has not seen many girls before so this becomes a structure of irony anyway. What she brings, which is a continued mystery in the world, is a doppel. In this world, people function towards the idea of being in every place at once which allows them to do many simultaneous things (which they do through artificial constructs). Clain heads out to help the priestess but finds a sort of civil war progressing where certain people want to be unplugged. The land itself is not wasted but it is barren compared to say the fields that were tilled before because nobody needs to do to exist. Now work apparently gets done through the doppels but its execution is vague. Like “Waterworld”, these “unplugged” people are in search for an oasis but they are not quite sure where. The Japanese language and subtitles are more straightforward while the English dub progresses more playfully though only for the first couple episodes. The commentary explores the balance of technology and the Celtic influence but not with any real depth.
Disc 2 Continuing on within the structure of a trinity of friends that will not leave each other, the series continues its religious connotations in effectively pursuing the assimilation of one whole. The participants are struggling against their respective destinies thinking that something different should befall them. After getting a taste of the Fractale universe through the city of Xanadu, Clain realizes that the basis of what people are fighting for is not all it is cracked up to be. Entering into the temple (another religious connotation) as a heightened doppel (think the Holy Spirit in the Catholic religion) becomes more and more brazen in her rescue attempts, the trio finally acquiesces to their fate. The interesting progression is that nothing really changes. The balance effectively moves in the idea that Clain himself is on a crusade to save both these women, who hold different emotions for him (whether they be real or not). Happening upon a cloning structure of a girl fashioned to be “god” is a little heavy and doesn’t quite connect the dots. Save for some slang, the translation is similar on both sides of the coin. The promos both regular and Blu Ray speak to the two lead characters but hold out on the spiritual bridge between them which is the core of the series. The inclusion of an orchestral performance of a suite from the score highlights the almost John Williams-breathe of its sound., The textless songs as usual provide a depth filled backdrop while the trailer for “Tales Of Vesperia” stands out among the coming soon trailers.
“Fractale” is a retro-implication of technology gone awry that circles back around to notions of religion simply as a matter of course. These philosophies work well within the narrative bent of the show though at times, the notion of what the creators are exploring seems to get away from the texture of what the show is truly about: fate
B-
The essence of mainstream Chinese cinema reflects in certain values and textures of the mythic. In Brothers, the ideal reflects back in the war in the 1920s between the nationalist and the communist factions in China. While the ideology is not specifically addressed, the specific story is integrated between two brothers indoctrinated into the army but ultimately through circumstance they find themselves on separate sides. The filmmaking structure of the technology according to the behind the scenes bonus features began in 2010 and the film was purely made on a stage with green screen. The look of the film reflects that mostly of “Sin City” and, to a lesser point, “300” (made in 2005 and 2006 respectively). Creating whole battle sequences on water and on mountains in this way is interesting but obviously labor intensive as the film didn’t come out until 2016. The conflict involves the older brother Wang and the younger brother Chen coming to terms with the men they have become and their loyalty to those they serve. The underlying narrative structure involves Chen being assigned after a particularly brutal battle to escort some female musicians to a place called High City for a performance. His brother, now part of an assassin squad, finds them and their conflict of ideals begins. While the dialogue is very matter of fact, the texture of the relationship makes definite sense as it does rouse to an almost blindsided conclusion until the resolution is structured. The bonus features also speak to the two actors’ approach to their perspective characters but the enclosed trailer does give away too much of the plot. “Brothers” shows the continually evolving market’s ability to try new things while remaining in certain element of mythic themes resonant to the individual.
The Inside Reel 