MovieChat Forums > Bunraku (2011) Discussion > Very enjoyable movie, but I would have l...

Very enjoyable movie, but I would have liked more black faces

posted 10 years ago by thedarklantern
1 reply | jump to latest

Firstly, as stated, I really liked this movie, I picked it up dirt cheap on a friend's recommendation, but really procrastinated over watching it, what if it sucked?

Anyhow, after some initial trepidation at the beginning, the jazz trumpet bits and the highly stylized sets and choreography, I allowed myself to get into the "world" of the story and suspend my disbelief and found the movie a great comic book cum video game movie. In fact, much as I like the Marvel and DC movies, I'd like to see more movies like Bunraku, that whilst obviously drawing on comic and game culture actually create their own, original universe/setting.

Back to my OP, did anyone else notice the lack of black characters other than a few villains? The trampoline/circus Killer (no.6?) (Who at least had a pretty good fight scene) and the Breakdancing/Capoeira-like fighter (who was pretty cool, reminded me of Eddy Gordo from Tekken), also one of the Red Suits/henchmen, some bald black guy with swords during the camp battle near the end.

It's not normally something I'd notice, for example, if the movie was Asian and had a fully Asian cast in an Asian setting, but this movie did have a mix of people in it (including the (Hispanic?) henchman in the white suit, though again, another bad guy), although the setting did seem to have an uncertain location (I believe they said something about Nicola being the most powerful fighter east of the Atlantic, which is still somewhat vague) and it was possible that not many Africans or others passed through the area, but if that was the case, there still managed to be some black guys in the main bad guy's employ. I did notice a few dark skinned women amongst the courtesans, but I think they were Latinas. It would have been cool if at least the villagers (the ones in 20s/30s style clotheswho fought the Red Suits in the big camp battle) were a bit more diverse.

Anyhow, not trying to stir things up here, still a pretty good movie, Just one of those things where once you notice it, you can't help but notice it, and if someone could correct me (maybe some extras in the Sushi bar or casino or something), it would give me another excuse to sit through it again, which I probably still will at some point.

[–] jesserafe 9 years ago

I only noticed there weren't any other black characters at all after Hartnett killed three black guys in a row, which was surely incidental.

Yes, "East of Atlantic" meant even less to me. Especially because the town seemed half Japanese or pan-Asian-inspired, but they were making a big deal about "that Oriental guy" as if that would be something unique.

Weird what they were going for. It seems on one hand a total cultural fusion (food, language, ethnicities) but on the other a White-Anglo dominated one. They didn't give a lot of things in this movie a lot of thought.

Oh, and that random bald guy was Killer #2's sparring partner from earlier, so likely one of the better non-#-Killers in the city, hence why he was mowing down the proleteriats.