Film Review: Pompo The Cinephile

By Rose

Pompo the Cinephile​ is exactly 90 minutes long—excluding the credits. The film’s runtime is integral to the narrative itself, which posits that longer films do nothing but waste a viewer’s time. Movies, the titular producer Joelle Davidovich “Pompo” Pomponett says, should be entertaining and never outstay their welcome (and an attractive girl in the starring role doesn’t hurt either). Unfortunately, despite the film’s general adherence to Pompo’s advice, it’s hard not to feel like my time was at least a little bit wasted.

Pompo is a technically impressive film. The vibrant animation packed with stylish flourishes and scene transitions, a cast of wonderfully funny and relatable characters, excellent framing and scene pacing--Pompo is fun to watch and, above all, entertaining. My gripes run a bit deeper under the surface. See, Pompo sets itself up with several thematic threads concerning the purpose and importance of art, the value of collaboration, and the pitfalls of obsession. It does not deliver satisfying conclusions on any of these.

Without spoiling plot details for you, I’d like to say that Pompo the Cinephile is a perfectly adequate film, a fun watch with some frustrating messaging. Weighing out what I liked and disliked, I’d call it pretty average, but worth a watch.

Plot spoilers follow. You can scroll to the bottom for final thoughts and more information.

Midway through the film, protagonist and aspiring filmmaker Gene Fini begins to run into unforeseen problems on the set of what is to be his debut film. Inclement weather (and inclement wolves) have forced the crew to get creative, and Gene learns how to lean on his collaborators for help when the actors and camera crew start offering suggestions. It’s a heartwarming scene, the message of which is promptly stomped into the ground when Gene’s editing crunch lands him in the hospital later in the film. Rather than remember the lessons learned on set, Gene opts to ignore the doctor’s request that he rest, and gets right back to work on finishing the movie before the deadline. The movie, called Meister, is a hit. Nyacademy Awards and unbridled praise. Roll credits. This, to me, was pretty troubling. The film spends a decent amount of time discussing the value of art created by happy people, with Pompo claiming that good art can only come from damaged individuals. Crunch is a serious issue in many artistic fields, but the anime industry in particular has had an overwhelming abundance of it in recent years. For such a feel-good comedic romp, the message that good art can only come from pain and sacrifice feels like a slap in the face—not just to the viewer, but to the people who worked on it.

There are a few more issues I had with Pompo as well, though mostly minor in comparison to the above. The characters are funny and interesting but start to feel flat by the end; this was, after all, a six-volume manga series condensed into a 90-minute movie. A major funding issue is solved by appealing to the emotions of a bank’s board of directors, a gambit which almost doesn’t work until suddenly it does. The score, composed by Kenta Matsukuma of SCRAMBLES fame, is fairly rote and unremarkable. Also, the most minor gripe of all, B-movie producer Pompo is neither a cinephile nor the main character of the film. Gene is a cinephile. Call it Pompo and the Cinephile. Maybe Gene the Cinephile? That one doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well.

I wanted to like Pompo the Cinephile and, to some extent, I did. But I didn’t love it. The messaging on crunch and the value of art didn’t sit right with me and ultimately left me pretty sour on the movie as a whole—a shame considering the wonderful craft that went into it from so many talented and dedicated people. The voice cast is flawless, the character designs are whimsical enough to just barely border on (fully intentional) parody, and the animation and editing are exhilarating. CLAP (alongside director Takayuki Hirao) is an animation studio at the top of their game and, if you’re willing to ignore the wasted potential of the narrative, Pompo the Cinephile is a perfectly serviceable delight to watch.

Overall Rating: C

​GKIDS and Fathom Events are bringing Pompo the Cinephile to theaters across the US starting on April 29th. You can find a complete listing HERE and can purchase tickets via the movie's official site: https://www.pompomovie.com/

The trailer can be found below.