It is always interesting when a children’s film attempts to explore deeper subjects thematically, and Twilight of the Cockroaches dares to cover the international relations and economics of Japan at the peak of its economic success in the late eighties. The great nation of Japan, at the time the second most powerful economy in the world, flatteringly portrayed as a colony of cockroaches infesting the apartment of a slobbish Japanese man.
This self-deprecating analogy is quite the contrast to what one might expect from the Japanese, who are usually more closely associated with qualities like ‘honour’, ‘strength’ and ‘tranquility’. Indeed for any group or ... nation to present themselves in such a grotesque manner is unusual; it would usually be the sort of metaphor used in a work of propaganda. This makes the premise quite intriguing and the potential for a particularly biting piece of satire is alluring. But in what sense is Japan similar to a colony of cockroaches?
The first point to be made here is that it is not really Japanese people per se that are like cockroaches, but their approach to economics at that time. Living with their slovenly landlord, food is abundant and the cockroaches enjoy lives of immense luxury, to the extent that lives of cockroaches can be luxurious. There is no expectation that these glory days will come to an end, and they make no preparations for any forthcoming ‘rainy days’. Alas, those rainy days do come, just as they did for Japan itself in the early nineties when the economic bubble finally burst. Was this a prediction of the future? Not really, such consequences are inevitable in economics, and we have been experiencing the same effect in the west for the past few years, after a housing and finance boom.
But there is more to it than that; indeed the economic crisis is something of a natural occurrence, while the fate of the cockroaches in this film is rather more deliberate, in that the host actively attempts to destroy them. After finding himself a girlfriend who is distressed by the infestation of cockroaches in his home, both decide to clean up and engage in “war” with the cockroaches. Quite what this is a metaphor of, is a complicated question. The host meeting the girlfriend clearly and comfortably represents a change in the economic situation, but their conspiring to destroy the cockroaches could be taken to be an active attempt to destroy Japan. The reputation that Japanese people had at that time was of very hard working people who would come to replace the United States as the dominant economic power due to their strong work ethic, and perhaps this is what the creators intended to convey. Alas, this is not made clear enough in the picture itself and would rather contradict the lazy nature of the cockroaches prior to the host meeting the girlfriend.
There is however one further element of the Japanese national character embodied by the cockroaches which leads one to believe they represent not only the economics of the country but its people: and that is the rather dramatic conclusion of the film. This scene is shocking, especially when one reflects on the prime audience of the film, but how it fits into a metaphor of the Japanese economy is unclear; but it does fit neatly into certain other aspects of the Japanese national character. This makes the films thematic conclusions somewhat confusing. However, one cannot help but praise the bold faced, frankness of it all.
Another aspect of the film which is unconventional is the way it blends live action and animation together. The cockroaches are animated, the humans are real people, and the environment is a mixture of the two. There are a fair few western productions that have taken this approach (‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’ is the most famous example) but one cannot think of any examples from Japan. Critics might say this is because the technique has rather limited applications or because it is usually unconvincing. However, I think it is well suited to this production. And while the character designs of the cockroaches are quite simplistic to be combined with live action, it only becomes a problem in the occasional scene. Other than that the animation is up to an acceptable standard.
The film is currently only available in an English dub, which is unfortunately a bit ‘straight to video children's movie’. That is to say the voice acting, while not terrible, is a bit bland. The voice actors are capable but not particularly talented and so you cannot help but laments the lack of the original Japanese dub. The background music is suitably atmospheric, dark and ominous, which emphasises the films dark themes nicely and captures the prevailing attitude of people towards cockroaches neatly.
All being said Twilight of the Cockroaches is not a film that will appeal to anyone; in fact, it will appeal to only a very limited audience, but this is not because of any lack of quality on its part. The fact is that the film is now quite old and its animation is dated, its themes have now faded into obscurity, and what is left of the content without them perhaps too childish. However if you have some basic knowledge of Modern Japanese history and a taste for niche and experimental animation, then Twilight of the Cockroaches could be just the film to pique your interest. Furthermore if you are not familiar with the Japanese approach to children’s films outside of the Studio Ghibli catalogue, then the bluntness of their traditional approach may leave you feeling quite surprised.
When all is said and done, Twilight of the Cockroaches is a clever and daring film, without any contemporary. And for that, in the often times repetitive world of Japanese Animation, makes it something to be cherished.
Alternative Titles Japanese: ゴキブリたちの黄昏 Information Type: Movie Episodes: 1 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Nov 21, 1987 Licensors: Discotek Media Source: Original Genre: Drama Duration: 1 hr. 45 min. Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older Statistics Score: 5.841 (scored by 691 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #105652 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #10762 Members: 2,411 Favorites: 1 Available AtResources |
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