Parumu No Ki |
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Japan • 2002 • 130m •
  • Directed by: Takashi Nakamura. • Starring: Akiko Hiramatsu, Megumi Toyoguchi, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Yurika Hino, Kappei Yamaguchi, Motomu Kiyokawa, Rikako Aikawa, Christine M. Auten, Chris Ayres, Jessica Boone, David Born, Luci Christian, Michael Coleman. • Music by: Takashi Harada.   Palme is a puppet created by a man for his sickly wife. After her death, Palme becomes paralyzed with sorrow until he happens to cross paths with a woman being pursued who asks him to deliver something precious to a sacred place called Tama.
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Furthermore, I hardly think the plot is convoluted as so many suggest. I had no trouble following any aspect of the story. I'll admit that there are many anime films out there with plots that run circles around my head, but this wasn't one of them. It all made perfect sense to me -- symbolism and all. Perhaps I'm either insane or smarter than most. I don't know. All I know was that I truly enjoyed the plot and had no issues with it.
I also very much liked all the characters. That's a rare pleasure I get from movies these days, especially given my extremely jaded nature. With a combination of good writing, great cinematography, and great music, I was able to feel everything the characters felt; when they were happy, so was I; when they were sad, so too did sadness well up from within me. Only the best films can achieve such a goal (should it even be a goal, given most of today's trash films).
And then there is the pure artistry in virtually every shot of the film. My god, "A Tree of Palme" is beautiful -- an artistic triumph in every sense. Immersion is practically guaranteed. And the CG? Perfectly integrated. Absolutely perfect. I never felt as if I was looking at CG -- the gorgeous cinematography and haunting music saw to that. It also helped that the modern, intricate CG was sparingly used, unlike so many of today's films. The CG was as CG should be.
In the end, "A Tree of Palme" is an amazing film and simply doesn't deserve the terrible wrap so many people levy upon it. It reminds me so much of the early days of film, when special effects weren't everything and pacing was much slower. If you're a fan of film, you owe it to yourself to see "A Tree of Palme".
Review by shoalx2003 from the Internet Movie Database.
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