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{"id":585,"date":"2008-09-22T18:47:46","date_gmt":"2008-09-23T02:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/poptheology\/?p=585"},"modified":"2008-09-22T18:47:46","modified_gmt":"2008-09-23T02:47:46","slug":"tekkonkinkreet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/poptheology\/2008\/09\/tekkonkinkreet\/","title":{"rendered":"Tekkonkinkreet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>Tekkonkinkreet<\/em> follows two close friends, White and Black, young orphans in Treasure City who fancy themselves the rulers of their town, even with much larger and older gangs making the same claim.\u00a0 When the yakuz begin to shake things up in the city, White and Black harass the gangsters and disrupt, to an extent, their cash flow.\u00a0 When the boss realizes that times are changing, he brings in a corporation to creat a children\u2019s theme park in Treasure City.\u00a0 Both White and Black and some of the members of the yakuza are not pleased with this plan as it will disrupt traditions to which they have become accustomed.\u00a0 If White and Black do not like the local yakuza, they like the corporate intruder even less.\u00a0 The film largely follows, in fits and starts, White and Black\u2019s battle with their gangster foes and their struggle to survive in this large, oppressive city.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>The main characters represent several simplistic dualities as their names imply.\u00a0 White and Black could represent good and evil, yet they together are a force for good that opposes larger evils.\u00a0 On the other hand, they must steal and commit acts of violence to survive.\u00a0 As the film progresses, we see just how close these friends really are and can eventually even see them as two components of the same person.\u00a0 White is a care free, naive young child who finds pleasure in the simplest of things.\u00a0 He is the source of much joy in the film and a fountain of comic relief.\u00a0 Black, on the other hand, is wise, determined, powerful, and, above all, dangerous, protecting White with all of his abilities.\u00a0 He leads the attacks against their \u201cenemies,\u201d while White, despite his distractions, occasionally offers assistance as well.\u00a0 Towards the end of the film, Black becomes consumed with revenge against the henchmen who almost fatally wound White.\u00a0 Black goes missing in action as he takes down the \u201cmonster\u201d henchmen and some of the new theme park in the process.\u00a0 White feels Black\u2019s encompassing revenge just as Black felt White\u2019s pain when he was attacked.\u00a0 White tells the police, \u201cI have all the screws Black needs.\u201d\u00a0 The implication here is that Black has all the screws White needs as well.<\/p>\n

Though the entire film is visually stunning, the final scenes are especially breath-taking as Black fights the darkness within, symbolized by an evil minotaur.\u00a0 As it overtakes him, the minotaur teases him, trying to lure him further into the darkness.\u00a0 The minotaur lies, claiming that the darkness that envelops Black is truly the light\u2026the destination that Black seeks.\u00a0 In the meantime, White is overcome with panic and screams, crying out to Black.\u00a0 As he does, flashes of light break through the darkness and temporarily stave off the minotaur.\u00a0 It reemerges, however, telling Black that this is all a deception, a hell to which he must not run.\u00a0 White (light) eventually breaks through to Black who dispells the darkness completely, though not without a lasting reminder of his battle.\u00a0 The visuals that accompany this concluding struggle are simply amazing, terrifying, and awe-inspiring all at once, as are the spiritual struggles in which we are constantly engaged.<\/p>\n

Tekkonkinkreet<\/em><\/a> (100 mins) is available on DVD and is rated R for language and violence.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"