Review of Roujin Z (1991) by William T — 29 May 2012

An invalid is strapped into a high tech bed which tends to his every need. The bed is essentially a futuristic tomb, but designed for someone still alive.

This movie, written by Katsuhiro Otomo, is the high comic-satirical mirror image of Otomo's masterpiece Akira. This movie is not as gruesome or apocalyptic as Akira, but it is deadly on target in its satire of how a late stage capitalist society leans on technology to solve problems of basic humanity and care-giving to an absurd degree. It's not a Luddite film by any means, and the ending is surprisingly bracing, exhilarating, and moving all at the same time. See it.