Another World review: A surprisingly dark animation
Animation is the place where imagination can run wild, and filmmakers can embark on a limitless exploration of the weird and wonderful. The Hong Kong animation Another World is a major example of this as it presents fantastical characters and concepts that I haven’t seen before.
Another World is the afterlife realm between the human world and reincarnation. Spirit guide Gudo (voiced by Suet-Ying Chung) helps recently deceased people to a waterfall where they will be reborn. The film follows Gudo as he helps a lost girl named Yuri (Hui-Tung Choi), as well as Princess Goran (Yeung Nga-man) and a man named Keung (Will Orr). People become monsters if the seed of evil inside them – created by anger and hatred – becomes too great, and Gudo tries to help them reduce or get rid of their seed of evil otherwise they can’t be reincarnated.
I naively assumed that Another World would be for children but it’s really not. There is blood, violence, decapitations and a light sprinkling of cannibalism! It’s a surprisingly dark and macabre film, so no wonder it’s rated 15 over here. It is also quite hard to follow, from the fantastical concepts (there’s a lot to learn and remember) to the haphazard storytelling.
The story jumps around all over the place as Gudo encounters the three aforementioned characters. The final act connects all the dots and it all makes sense once the pieces have aligned, so it’s a shame that the film hops around so much. It’s confusing, and the storylines feel too separate and fractured. There is a lack of cohesion between them until it all comes together in a moving way in the end.
This Ghibli-esque film, based on the Japanese novel Sennenki, is a bit too dark and fantastical for my liking, but I could still appreciate the unique animation style, the stellar voice cast and its bold ideas.
In select cinemas from Thursday 29th January