Twilight of the Cockroaches [Sub] (LD)

Release date: 1992-02-17
Suggested retail price: $39.95

SKU: LVD-9201
UPC: 724117920166 724117920166

Description:
Twilight of the Cockroaches is an innovative composite of live action and animation. The heroes and heroines of the film are animated cockroaches who move freely against a background filmed in the real world. The film traces the rise and fall of a cockroach kingdom in the home of Mr. Saito, a modern bachelor who loves good food. In Saito's home the cockroaches live a very good life and worship the human as a god. They are a new generation of cockroaches who firmly believe that human beings are their good friends. Memories of hard times when they had to scrape and search for food have faded. When confronted with the news of starving people and massacres occurring in other nations, the citizen's of the affluent cockroach kingdom couldn't care less until Saito brings home a new girlfriend and life changes in the kingdom.

Camera angles take the viewpoint of the cockroaches, following them with a snorkel camera that moves through the jungle-like carpet, past the mountain of books and underneath the gigantic feet before climbing the towering table leg. When a cockroach becomes airborne, so does the camera, giving the audience the impression of riding a rollercoaster.

Since cockroaches are unable to understand human speech, the human stars remain totally voiceless and their presence in a scene adds an ongoing element of suspense and the dangling "will they attack?" The terrible, gross finality of an approaching human armed with a rolled-up newspaper strikes terror into our hearts as the bludgeoning swipe of that deadly weapon blots out the screen and the lives of our little friends of the soft shells. From the point of view of the cockroach, ordinary everyday household items take on unusual dimensions or else become unknown hazards.

With Twilight of the Cockroaches, filmmaker Hiroaki Yoshida has crafted an allegorical tale which reflects upon life below the refrigerator and out ability to take the good life for granted until it is gone.

(added on 2022-01-05, modified on 2022-01-05)

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