FIVE DAUNTING DRAMATIC CDM's

As noted earlier, what I call the “drama” is based on the Fryean category of the tragedy, but I’ve chosen to use the former word to allow for works that do not end tragically.

(1) WATCHMEN (2009)—I might have some problems with particular choices made by Zack Snyder in the adaptation of the Moore-Gibbons graphic novel, but I don’t object in principle to Snyder’s elimination of the ironic elements in favor of something closer to a drama with superheroes in it. Indeed, most of the comic books influenced by WATCHMEN chose drama over irony. Most of the strong scenes are simply good translations of those in the novel, though Snyder improves one or two. The scene where Rorschach expresses disbelief that the Comedian would be caught “crying” is one such.

(2) NAUSICAA IN THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1984) —This early Miyazaki work is still one of the best early anime-films to use adventure-motifs in the service of drama. Admittedly I’ve not seen it in a long time, but key scenes still stick with me over 20 years later.

(3) OLDBOY (2003)—I’ve not read the original Korean manhwa by Minegishi, but this is a very suspenseful revenge-drama in which ordinary schmuck Oh Dae-su is pulled off the street and imprisoned for over a decade without any knowledge as to his captors of their motives. He goes hunting for both his captors and the answers.


(4) AKIRA (1988)— Given the degree of skull-bursting violence that erupts throughout the length and breadth of AKIRA, I could understand it if some critic chose to to categorize it as “adventure.” Yet I tend to privilege as “adventure” those works that feature a strong conflict between a hero and an adversary, and here the conflict is more than of ordinary protagonist Kaneda seeking to save his former friend Tetsuo from the scientifically-implanted psychokinetic powers that turn Tetsuo into a psychotic god. This Frankensteinian parable, like the original by Mary Shelley, is much more about pathos than agon.

(5) BLUEBERRY (2004)—I don’t think this is the ideal filmization of the hard-bitten Lieutenant Blueberry stories of Charlier and Giraud/Moebius, but as with Snyder’s WATCHMEN, it’ll have to do till a better one comes along. The standout scene takes place when Blueberry enjoys a psychedelic “trip” that feels in sync with the design strategies of Moebius in his more science-fictiony works.