A Tree of Palme

I recently bought 'A Tree of Palme' as I was interested in the idea that it was an adaptation of the Pinocchio story. It was amazing to watch with beautiful animation and music. I enjoyed it because even though Palme (a mechanical puppet) does not achieve his ultimate goal in the film it still leaves you with a sense of fulfilment.

I must say after reading many peoples reviews of it and continuously comparing it with the works of myazaki and 'Akira' it highlighted to me that point that it is a difficult film to grasp. I think its a shame that people aren't open to new ideas and interpretations and are forever putting something that is genuinely brilliant down just because its not revolutionary or a big box office grosser.

It is a film that opens your eyes to that world but only if you care to look.

Monsters, magic, technology, and a resentful spirit of an unloved woman. A pilgrimage to deliver a mcguffin to its destination, and the promise of something good.. or terribly bad.

The film is a Pinocchio story that is hard to follow, while being visually quite interesting.. sadly the script is too messy for me to enjoy. It's not a "I don't get it" kind of story because it is deep and complexly written.. but because it wants to deliver high concept ideas and tries to do too many things at the same time.

The pacing is awful, the developments not very interesting, it constantly tries to be mature and scary, and it doesn't say much. Ultimately, the execution isn't capable of satisfying.. but some elements and the setup are intriguing enough to at least give it a try.

At the base of a huge tree lives a botanist with his malfunctioning wooden robot named Palme. One day a wounded female warrior arrives there just ahead of her pursuers. She makes Palme to deliver a capsule to Tamas, a world deep underground.

This movie is not all about the animation, but based heavily more on the morale and symbolism, it wants to explore the meaning of humanity. About how Palme encounters various people, less mechanical but some are more "soulless", how he wanted to become a human to protect the girl he loves, Popo. Even sometimes we can see that Palme is "more human" than any others (makes mistakes like human too).

So, if you want to watch an alternate version of pinocchio movie, watch this , its a good movie.

This is one of the best looking anime features I've run across. The animation is glorious, the design and the world created are rich in images and wonders to see. The trouble is that the movie is a snail paced retelling of Pinocchio that even at two hours and sixteen minutes doesn't tell the whole story, there are gaps between sequences that leave you puzzling how we got from A to B. The film is suppose to be a very personal project by the director who worked on it for ten years, but there is such a thing as being too close to a project and in this case he was much too close. I can see how the lack of complete explanation might appeal to some people but for me it was more bewildering than intriguing, the film didn't make a lot of sense and took forever not making it. (Visuals are a ten out of ten, the rest is up to you, I give it a five over all simply because the visuals are so fantastic it makes watching it interesting at least for a majority of it)

Whilst this can be a bit slumpy in places. I feel that it does depict the depth of palmes love and inner torment.

"One minute, Palme is a humble hero in search of himself, the next a violent psycho with an unhealthy fixation on a girl" ¬Mindboggling, by Sarah US

is that not love? it is not illogical and complex, conflicting and overwhelming? It is beautifully portrayed through the eyes of palme. a boy made of wood to be a companion of a girl. the tree from which he was cast was sentient so he developed thoughts akin to feelings.

The story is bittersweet. it follows palme as he explores who he is as well as what perceived feelings and attachments truly are. you feel for palme but because he's not 'a real boy' you are with him without feeling uncomfortable. the mesh between Pinocchio and Puppy is a clever and essential device to the telling of the story. If you cannot appreciate that then you have missed the point entirely.

I would class this as slice of life rather than fantasy. but there are 2 types of the aforementioned. If you want an anime that spells it all out for you and leaves you feeling all cutesy-poo then this is not for you. If you like anime that provokes thought and the slice of life you're after is the big questions and quandaries then this is a must see.