In the world of Annwn, eight tribes called the Garm were created long ago to serve their god. One day the god left the world, & the races fell lớn fighting among themselves. Now, after devastating the planet, there are only three tribes remaining (Briga, Kumtak, and Columba). There also seem khổng lồ be no more Druids, mysterious beings who conveyed the words of god. The Briga control the ground, the Columba control the skies, while the weakened Kumtak serve the Briga.

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The film is divided into three acts. The first, "The Exile of the Three Magi" sets the stage for the film"s journey. The Columba have captured Wydd, a Kumtak in posession of a Gula (a mystical being that looks remarkably lượt thích a basset hound) as well as the last Druid in existence (we have a title!). During his interrogation, Wydd says he was fleeing the Briga because the Kumtak are enslaved, & he offers his services as well as the power of the Druid lớn fight on the side of the Columba. As the Columba give him access khổng lồ their systems, the Briga, led by Skellig, invade the Columba airship & retrieve Wydd và the Druid. They manage to get away as the Briga attack, but Khara, a cloned Columba pilot pursues them. She is shot down, but Skellig"s ship crashes as well. Once they are reunited on the ground, Wydd convinces Khara và Skellig lớn accompany him on his own quest to the lands of the Druids to try khổng lồ solve the mystery of why the Garm were created & why their god left. The second act, "Passage to the Other World," chronicles their journey as they try khổng lồ make it lớn the land of the Druids, with Khara & Skellig discussing why they"re following Wydd on his fool"s journey. In the third act, "Sacred Grove," the band arrives at their presumed destination, only lớn find that things aren"t entirely peaceful.


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In the world of Annwn, eight tribes called the Garm were created long ago to lớn serve their god. One day the god left the world, và the races fell lớn fighting among themselves. Now, after devastating the planet, there are only three tribes remaining (Briga, Kumtak, and Columba). There also seem to lớn be no more Druids, mysterious beings who conveyed the words of god. The Briga control the ground, the Columba control the skies, while the weakened Kumtak serve the Briga.

The film is divided into three acts. The first, "The Exile of the Three Magi" sets the stage for the film"s journey. The Columba have captured Wydd, a Kumtak in posession of a Gula (a mystical being that looks remarkably lượt thích a basset hound) as well as the last Druid in existence (we have a title!). During his interrogation, Wydd says he was fleeing the Briga because the Kumtak are enslaved, and he offers his services as well as the power of the Druid khổng lồ fight on the side of the Columba. As the Columba give him access lớn their systems, the Briga, led by Skellig, invade the Columba airship và retrieve Wydd và the Druid. They manage to lớn get away as the Briga attack, but Khara, a cloned Columba pilot pursues them. She is shot down, but Skellig"s ship crashes as well. Once they are reunited on the ground, Wydd convinces Khara and Skellig khổng lồ accompany him on his own quest khổng lồ the lands of the Druids khổng lồ try khổng lồ solve the mystery of why the Garm were created và why their god left. The second act, "Passage khổng lồ the Other World," chronicles their journey as they try lớn make it to lớn the land of the Druids, with Khara & Skellig discussing why they"re following Wydd on his fool"s journey. In the third act, "Sacred Grove," the band arrives at their presumed destination, only khổng lồ find that things aren"t entirely peaceful.


It"s become something of a rule of thumb among some anime fans lớn avoid Mamoru Oshii"s live-action films. On the surface, this impulse is perfectly understandable. Oshii has been widely acclaimed for being one of the foundational writers and directors behind anime franchises lượt thích Patlabor and Ghost in the Shell, in addition khổng lồ more experimental fare lượt thích Angel"s Egg. However, Oshii"s sensibilities don"t always translate well into a live-action format, and I"ve heard many of these films criticized as dull and uneven. Although I"d be the first khổng lồ admit that they certainly wouldn"t be khổng lồ everyone"s tastes, it"s important to lớn go into these films with an open mind.

This is something of a long-winded way to say that Mamoru Oshii has a new live-action film available in North America -- Garm Wars: The Last Druid. Currently in limited theatrical release and available on VOD, this futuristic drama is Oshii"s first English-language film. This isn"t the first time that Oshii has broken away from the Japanese language in a film, though - his 2000 live-action film Avalon was originally filmed in Polish, & 2009"s Assault Girls contained a fair amount of English as well, although this was spoken by Japanese actors & was heavily accented. Garm Wars was filmed in Canada & features US và Canadian actors Lance Henriksen (Aliens) as Wydd, Kevin Durand (Lost) as Skellig, and a starring role for Melanie St-Pierre (most recently seen on TV in an episode of Heroes Reborn) as Khara.

In spite of this being Mamoru Oshii"s first English-language work, anyone familiar with his films will be able khổng lồ pick out many of his usual motifs. The most obvious is perhaps the solid, if unremarkable, score by his consistent collaborator Kenji Kawai. The opening credit sequence of Khara being regenerated while Kawai"s composition plays doesn"t seem lượt thích it could be anything other than a direct reference to a similar opening in 1995"s Ghost in the Shell. Many of the early scenes contain the sepia-toned look Oshii began developing in Avalon và Ghost in the Shell 2. (Though I need to lớn mention Benoit Beaulieu"s outstandingly gorgeous cinematography, which takes these ideas and images lớn a whole new level.) In terms of story, Khara"s personal quest to discover the meaning behind the endless fighting of the Garm tribes is reminiscent of the cyclical struggle of The Sky Crawlers. Oshii"s customary use of biblical passages come into play in a couple of different placesas well, which is appropriate for a film that contains, as the voiceover puts it, a "pilgrim"s journey to the holy land." and it will come as no surprise lớn anyone that there is a basset hound as one of the film"s main characters. If fact, it"s fortuitous timing that Dark Horse recently published the translation of Seraphim: 266613336 Wings, a mid-"90s manga collaboration between Oshii & Satoshi Kon - the quest of the Garm Wars characters very closely resembles the quest of the Magi in that apocalyptic vision (and is even referenced in the title of the film"s first act). Like Seraphim, though, Garm Wars is frustratingly open-ended, with the last scene showing the world of Annwn on the brink of a new disaster.

At first, Garm Wars seems lượt thích it might be falling prey khổng lồ otaku-like overcomplication. The pacing of the film does not vì chưng itself any favors by front-loading the information about its world in an info-dump in the first ten minutes. Not only does the film detail these in a voiceover, Wydd"s character has some grand expository dialogue that rehashes the same information a few minutes later. In spite of this double dose, it"s hard khổng lồ wade through the names of the Garm tribes & their loyalties, và even more frustrating when you realize that none of that actually matters through the course of the film. These aspects could easily have been trimmed away, và the building of the world more thoroughly integrated into the presentation of the narrative.

Some might also be turned off by the film"s emphasis on elements that don"t seem to lớn be strictly related lớn the story. In particular, there are multiple scenes in the first act of Khara wandering through richly-lensed environments after she crashes. Although it"s true that these scenes slow the pace of the story, they also build on one another, contributing lớn a greater sense of the world that the characters inhabit. Oshii certainly seems more interested in the visual presentation of Garm Wars than he is of its complicated backstory.

That said, the film is a worthwhile watch with something interesting khổng lồ say. In fact, Garm Wars seem khổng lồ build directly on many of Oshii"s previous films, from Avalon through Assault Girls. In fact, I think all of these films exist in the same narrative universe, with the action in Garm Wars only being the most recent manifestation of the immersive computer worlds we"ve seen in these previous films. The events we see are the subsequent growing pains of artificial life as it tries to lớn come into its own, to not just survive but lớn have a reason lớn live. Part of this is the process of individuation, which is why the concept of collective memory among the Garm as well as separation from this collectivity are highlighted. The Garm vì not (cannot?) know know their own history, & their reliance on memory & their data archives only gets them so far. The separation of Skellig and Khara from the rest of their tribe is the leverage Wydd uses to get them to accompany him on the journey to the lands of the Druids. Since they are not connected to lớn their networks, their memories will not be downloaded when they die; therefore, they have no choice khổng lồ press on to lớn try to lớn discover new knowledge. Annwn is a stagnant world - as Wydd says, "The Garm don"t create, they maintain." like Ghost in the Shell"s exhortation "Your desire to remain as you are is what ultimately limits you," something drastic needs to happen in this world in order lớn progress. It"s difficult for such a creation to lớn go beyond the bounds of it"s original parameters, but Oshii seems optimistic that such growth is perhaps possible, though this is tempered by the open-ended nature of the film"s conclusion.

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Garm Wars may initially seem like a gorgeous piece of SF candy, but there"s actually quite a bit khổng lồ consider below the surface. However, it does require some patience and knowledge from outside the film (and particularly of Oshii"s previous works) in order khổng lồ really get at it. This may be too high of a price of entry for some, but I enjoyed the visual & philosophical ride.