Pompo The Cinephile (Eiga daisuki Pompo-san)

At around four foot with striking orange hair Pompo (Konomi Kohara) is an unlikely film producer, though she inherited the studio from her father. But as the viewer soon discovers Pompo has a keen eye for talent, and a profit.

Low budget B-movies are her forte. But looking for something more ambitious she charges lowly production assistant Gene (Hiroya Shimizu) with bringing her own ambitious script to the screen. That’s pressure enough without the casting the unknown Nathalie Woodward (Rinka Ōtani) opposite the ‘biggest star in the world’ Martin Braddock (Akio Ôtsuka).

Completely daunted by the project Gene has to control a film set, actors, choose location and then fly out to Switzerland for a shoot. once wrapped he’s the editor. All this with deadlines and an instruction to keep the film to ninety minutes as anything longer will tire Pompo.

Set in the glitz and glamour of the fictional Nyallywood, at its core Pompo is a crash course in film production from concept to release and beyond because everything is covered from Gene’s early ideas, the crew assembly, shooting, editing and expensive re-shoots that require the cast and crew to reassemble months after their part in the project has ended. Not forgetting the all-important finance of the film and how this is now evolving.

But going deeper level this is about aspiration, dreams and commitment. With memories and flashbacks to the early days of the main characters and how they came to be who and where they are. Trust your own instincts seems to be the mantra.

There’s plenty of what could be author intrusion with Pompo declaring that the brilliant aren’t much use in the film world as the have it all, thus negating the need for effort and ambition, unlike others who have spaces to work with.

But there’s also plenty of pep-talk and learning from experience as well as grabbing the opportunities presented by today’s technology. There is a lot in the ninety minutes or so, with writer and director Takayuki Hirao (from a manga by Shôgo Sugitani) attempting to cover all the bases of film production, as well as tell a more profound story, so it can appear cluttered at times.

The animation is glorious fun, with superb voice work (I saw the subtitled version) with some exquisite flights of imagination as when Gene is in the editing booth, while the director still manages to include amine staples of the contorted exaggerated screams and extreme facial contortions.