Product Description

A dark Pinocchio tale with a science/fantasy robotic twist! Palme, a puppet, is created to care for the dying wife of his master. After her death, Palme ceases to function until a mysterious woman, who is being followed, appears asking for help in delivering a precious package. This is Palme's first step in his long and incredible journey to becoming a real boy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #111200 in DVD
• Brand: ADV Films
• Released on: 2005-03-08
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 130 minutes

Amazon.com
The feature Tree of Palme (2001) was reportedly a pet project of writer-director Takashi Nakamura, who has worked with both Katsuhiro Otomo and Hayao Miyazaki. The plot borrows liberally from Pinocchio, Robot Carnival, Akira et al. Palme, a puppet created by a scientist to aid his wife, has hung mutely from a tree since her death. But he reawakens when he receives the mysterious Egg of Touto from a woman, who tells him to take it to Tama. En route, Palme meets a band of street urchins and Popo, a mistreated girl. As they search for the way to Tama, the story loses what little coherence it ever offered. Characters appear, disappear, and change sides for no reason, and at 136 minutes, the film is a half-hour too long. Tree of Palme offers some striking visuals, but it’s the cinematic equivalent of a trackless swamp. (Unrated, suitable for ages 12 and older: violence, grotesque imagery) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

I ONLY WANT TO BE "HUMAN"...TO BE "ALIVE"
A journey of soul seeking for a robot with dreams of becoming human.
This is a film created, directed and written by Takashi Nakamura. Known for his work as animation director for Katsuhiro Otomo's "Aklra", key frame animator for "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" and "Macross: Do You Remember Love?"

The work of Takashi Nakamura is well known in the Japanese anime industry and his work on "A Tree of Palme" is definitely a highlight in his career.

Originally planned as a television series, "A Tree of Palme" took seven years to plan and three and a half years to produce.

With many animation going digital, this film was created almost entirely of cel animation.

The background art in this film was created by art director Mutsuo Koseki, known for his works on films such as "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" and "Grave of the Fireflies", "A Tree of Palme" is a film that will be known for its production values.

As for the storyline, Nakamura's goal was to do something different from what was out there in Japanese animation and to make a film that would be about a state of soul that each of us have and depending on the viewer, will have their own interpretation of their feelings of the film.

Needless to say that despite the film looking very childlike, this film is anything but.

The storyline encompasses a planet with three regions. The World above called Touto, the world of land called Arcana and the world below called Tamas.

People believe that Touto is a place where Gods live. Arcana is the land where most people who work in factory towns reside. Tamas is a region where tribes live in and in Tamas is a giant Kooloop tree called Soma which ingested the memories of ancience civilizations.

The storyline of "A Tree of Palme" revolves around a robot named Palme who was created from the sacred Kuroop tree.

One day, a mysterious woman gives Palme the egg of Touto that gives him life and puts him on a crusade to become human.

Joining him in his crusade are a group of misfits that through his journey will also be doing some soul-searching along with Palme.
Althought very Pinocchio-like, the storyline of "A Tree of Palme" is not as happy as one would think.

There are mercenaries who would kill to get the egg of Touto and needless to say, this film has its share of violence.

The animation of this filme is definitely top notch. Although cel animation is not used during this digital age, Nakamura takes us to the pinnacle of cel animation. Also, a distinct, unique style of how the characters are created definitely stays within his goal of making this animated film different from others.

The audio is presented in Digital 5.1 in English and Japanese and I can tell you that both audio tracks are excellent and the English dub is very well done and well-acted.

The DVD comes with special features such as a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of "Tree of Palme", character, mechanical and prop design sketches, artwork, 5 key sequence animatics, the Japanese promos and trailers and an informative trailer.

"A Tree of Palme" is a film where people will have different feelings about and different interpretations.

For me, it was a film that showed us the pain in the lives of Palme's friends who had parents that were not really there for them and if they were, their parents were abusive towards them.

As for Palme, like Pinochio, he wants to be human. He has felt love but he will do what it takes to become human.

And this is where the distinction between Palme and Pinocchio ends as the cute and gullible Palme becomes a robot that will do what it takes to become human and that anything becomes quite violent and surprising.

This is truly a film that is different and unique and also a film that probably requires more than one viewing to really understand things.

Nakamura really did want people to watch and think about this film and this film did just that.

With beautiful animation, beautiful acting and a unique storyline, I highly recommend this animated film.

A gem of a film, a eternally misunderstood masterpiece.
A tree of palme is a beutiful animated film loosely based upon the ever iconic Pinnochio. That is not to say this is a retelling of that story, it is a film based on the CONCEPT of Pinnochio rather than the NARRATIVE, those who were angered or confused by the fact that the filom has little to nothing to do with the fairy tale are just missing the point.
A Tree of Palme is the story about one puppets (Palmes') quest to become human. And as a side note to ANYONE claiming that this is not his(Palme's) original intent, his pseudo father says upon reactivating him that he called the Fairy Xian and chased the giant fish because he was searching for a purpose, all he wants to be is human, he merely does not relize that it is the very longing to be human that makes him human.

The film is lovingly crafted and full of wierd alien landscapes designed soley to evoke wonder and curiosity.
It is also a tragic film, full of hardship and horrible hapenstance, one can not help but shed a figuritive tear at the horrors Palme and his friends both face and become.

It is constantly criticized for not having a "Cohesive narritive" or being "over developed but under realized" the naysayers that claim this are mistaken and again, are missing the point.

A tree of Palme is a allegory as well as a fairy tale. Not Everything is supposed to make absolute sense. Why doesn't anybody criticize Miyazaki (the director of the animated films Spirited Away,Howl's Moving Castle, and Princess Mononokee) for the same reasons? His works are just as (if not more surreal)than A tree of Palme yet are never criticized as such.

The film is logical from a child's point of view, a kind of strange if these things exist, than this must happen, mentality that has been all but lost in an age of modern cinema awash in cliches and tired retreads of aging concepts, the film expects you to interpret the meaning of itself, it doesn't spoon feed you plot or reasoning, it assumes you have a mind and can sort those dillemas out for yourself.

Again, A Tree of Palme is a enchanting film that never really got the publicity or appreciation it deserved. Buy and Own this film, it is a genunine classic in an age of pretenders.

Any fan of twisted takes on children's tales apply below:
There is a scene in this film where a character climbs the tentacles of a massive floating jelly fish and, after splitting its juicy insides, he reappears at the top and detaches its swim bladder, floating happily around as the hulking creature silently slumps to the dirt and grows dark. Popo, the shy female lead, gasps in horror at the sight as the rest of the characters laugh and cheer, blissfully unaware that they had done anything wrong. That scene, to me, sums up the feel of this film. It is dirty, yet as innocent as that kid who pulls a cat's tail to hear it scream. He doesn't connect the scream to pain, at least not on a conscious level.