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Category: Anime Reviews
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Title: A Tree of Palme (CC Licence "animetique.com ")  | views:203 |   A Tree of Palme is the story of a Kooloop wood puppet named Palme and his spiritual quest to find meaning in his life. Crafted from a special kind of tree that can absorb the memories of civilizations, Palme was created to tend to master Fou's dying wife, Xian. For a brief time, he was happy to bring her flowers, cook her meals, and spend time with her. One day, however, Xian died and Palme lost his purpose in life. Depressed, he turned himself back into a tree and slept until the fateful day when A Tree of Palme begins.
Now an old man, Fou is tending the sap of the Kooloop tree when Palme awakens. He runs outside to watch his creation, still sprouting with twigs, run up the tree after a Niger Triggerfish, a large fish that flies in the sky. Disaster soon strikes when lightning hits Palme, knocking him out of the tree and sending him crashing to the ground below.
That night as a lifeless Palme lies on Fou's bed, a strange woman named Koram enters the house with a request. Mistaking the woman for his beloved Xian, Palme accepts her task - to take this precious Egg of Touto to the great tree, Soma, which exists in the world 'below.'
Mercenaries soon raid Fou's home looking for the egg, which can either destroy or restore order to the civilizations of the underworld. During the encounter, Fou is fatally wounded, but before he dies, he fuses the egg with Palme's body and pleads with him to complete this final task. With little to lose, Palme sets out on an epic journey through the world of Arcana, meeting a rogue bunch of companions along the way.
In many ways, A Tree of Palme is a scifi retelling of the classic Pinocchio story. It is about a puppet who decides through his journeys that he'd like to become a real boy escaping merchants along the way who'd like to make a fortune off him.
Yet in other ways, this anime interweaves a number of themes and plotlines to breathe new life into this classic storyline. One underlying theme is mankind's responsibility to nature, which is highlighted in the way the companions cut 'balloons' out of 'floating grass.' They have a few seconds of fun floating through the sky with these balloons, but kill the floating grass that covers the balloons.
Another is the interesting way Palme transforms from an introverted puppet that has lost his way to an obsessive humanoid determined to complete his life's mission - to become a real boy. The transition isn't smooth, and throughout the process, Palme struggles to understand life and death. In one pivotal scene, Palme is experimenting with this concept and makes a mistake that will eventually haunt him. When his friends confront him, Palme lies about his actions, unsure what it means and afraid to face the consequences.
The story focuses on the difference between Palme's desire for a physical body and his desire for spiritual happiness - to be loved and accepted. As he becomes more obsessed with becoming human, he forgets his spiritual nature and becomes angry, self-centered and violent in his relentless pursuit.
This duality between the physical and the spiritual plays out in a number of different ways. Popo's mother is a prime example of someone who tries to buy her happiness through fine clothing and luxurious living, yet she is a bitter woman who never shows her daughter an ounce of love or affection.
The orphan thieves also struggle with their own desires to live comfortably by selling Palme or to aid him in his journey. It's enough of an issue to create a rift within the group.
The focus on parental love as a guiding light also permeates through this anime. A classic Cinderella story, it's amazing that Popo turned out to be such a caring girl. Her pure heart and spiritual tranquility are what eventually guide Palme to the answers he's seeking. By contrast, Palme's other influence, Koram, still clings to her bitter memories of her father abandoning her. It's this rejection that prevents her from finding peace and initially leads Palme astray.
That being said, A Tree of Palme is a lengthy movie at 136 minutes. Originally planned as a tv series and later cut to feature film length, it tries to cram a lot into a short time frame without beating you over the head with its many themes. Had this been an OAV series, there would have been more time to resolve and flesh out several plot elements which were left open to interpretation.
While I thought the film succeeded very well in what it tried to accomplish, I can see how others might find it slow or ambiguous. It is a fantasy, with no one coming off as the evil overlord that you must hate. Palme also isn't the flawless hero who must save the world, and yes, sometimes he makes mistakes. Sometimes he doesn't have all the answers. That, I thought, made it all the more enjoyable. In my opinion, this film has high re-watch potential to really absorb everything. |
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| Review submitted: 2008/5/11
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