Interstella 5555: “The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem” (part four)

Where we left off, the five Tealosians were all free and reunited, but they have no way back to their homeworld and one of them is badly injured. Meanwhile, the bad guy has...um...a music award. The consequences of him having it are not at all clear to me, but the movie has been suggesting that it's bad news for whatever reason.


As they drive S'telha away from the awards ceremony into the rainy night, they pass another homeless camp under a bridge. There's a lot of random camera focus on homeless people in this movie. Maybe Sahn'hik has been living among them, or something? That would fit. As the car containing Oc-Tavoth, Bhreel, and the newly freed S'telha drive on past, a soft, thoughtful piano and synth-percussion piece plays.

Track 9: "Something About Us"​

This track is sort of hybrid techno-classic in terms of instruments, and leans more toward blues when it comes to sound and pace.

As the night wears on and the rain proceeds, Oc-Tavoth (who I guess has learned to drive a car very, very quickly ) drives them to some old warehouses. This is where they've been camped out, I suppose. Their old getaway van full of laser-holes is parked inside the warehouse that Oc-Tavoth drives them into, and there's a ratty old mattress set up in a back corner where Arpajjas is worrying over the wounded Sahn'hik. From the way Bhreel and Oc-Tavoth react to the sight of him, Sahn'hik's condition seems to have deteriorated since they left on their rescue mission.S'tehla back in her natural coloration.

Sahn'hik is clearly in a lot of pain, but he manages to put on a brave face and keep a forced smile on for the sake of the others. When he sees S'telha though, his smile gets much less forced. He raises her hand toward her, still managing to smile, and she looks...unsure? Hesitant?

As the "I want you more than anything in my life" lyrics start being sung, S'telha accepts Sahn'hik's unspoken invitation. She nervously advances toward him and takes his outstretched hand. Her expression difficult to parse.

Then, when she takes his hand, this happens:

And then they're in pink cotton candy rose garden land, with S'tehla back in her natural coloration.

♪ Yami no sabaku ni sanba uba... ♪

She starts out looking baffled, but then seems to get into it. By the time the flying flower ride sequence is over, they're enthusiastically dancing with each other.

It finally ends with Sahn'hik being pulled out of her arms and into a dark void (death? maybe?), prompting the end of the dream sequencey thing.

...

Okay, so...what exactly is their relationship?

This makes it seem like they're old lovers, or at least old acquaintances with feelings for each other. But if that's the case, why didn't Sahn'hik's room have any personal memorabilia instead of commercial-looking band merch? A picture of them together? Or even just a picture of her by herself, but like, not in her stage outfit on a big poster? If this was the intent, then there's a lot more visual storytelling that could have easily been done in the "Digital Love" scene, but wasn't.

Is it supposed to be a mystical dream-bond that they share, as implied by the lyrics of "Digital Love?" Like, was S'telha also experiencing that first Utena Dance, while he was asleep aboard his ship and she was unconscious aboard Robotwig's? Did they each just think they were having horny dreams about a celebrity they knew about and not realize it was a psychic connection that they each experienced? If so, we really, really, REALLY needed some sort of visual indication of this before their in-person meeting. Like, just a single shot of S'telha asleep in her abduction pod showing signs of dreaming during that scene would have done the job.

Is she supposed to have been, like, enchanted by the sheer power of his parasocial crush on her and instantly won over into a mystical true love? Maybe. It would be really goddamned stupid if that were the case, but it might be.

Basically, this romantic subplot was either very badly told, or just plain very bad.

And I still feel like it's inconsequentially tacked on to the actual main plot, regardless of whatever merit it has or doesn't have on its own.

...

When S'telha snaps out of it, Sahn'hik is either unconscious or dead, and she's holding one of the keys to the Triforce in her hands.

Well, that's what it looks like at least. With the song's lyrical phase over with and soft, introspective synth taking the place of the earlier piano and percussion, she taps on the polygonal present. It turns into a holographic chibi-version of their band. Not sure if it's supposed to be something Sahn'hik made as a hobby, something he magically pulled from the ether with the power of his kinda-sorta-creepy love for S'telha, or just a piece of mass produced holotechnology merch he happened to own. In any case, seeing it jogs more of the four's memories, now that they're together and seeing an icon of their old selves.

Meanwhile, Sahn'hik just lays there with his eyes closed. Did they check to make sure he was still alive? Maybe they can see he's still breathing, even if we can't.

I feel like this scene sort of works on sacrificial logic. Like, Sahn'hik gave something of his own life force, his own "self," to return more of theirs back to themselves. Even if he didn't quite die yet, that's the framing. As for how that lands for me...I don't know. I feel like Sahn'hik's whole thing with S'telha being his most defining personality trait besides "hero" is getting in the story's way more and more.

...I feel like it might have worked better if he was a former bandmate of theirs from before they got famous, or something. Maybe he and Arpajjas (with his impressive fighting skills that we saw that one time) were both in the military together for a little while, with Sahn'hic choosing his career over music and Arpajjas the opposite, and he and S'telha had a sort of will-they-won't-they before he left. Would still be a little contrived, but better than this weird, slightly creepy, focus on S'telha that leaves the other three sitting around the periphery. Maybe something like that was actually the creators' intent. If it was though, they really didn't communicate it well.

The song ends. Just before sunrise, the five of them depart by van, leaving the city and driving along the coastline.

The next song slowly looms into existence to the rhythm of the nearby lighthouse, ramping up with the gradually rising sun.

Track 10: "Voyager"​

Arpajjas, who's had the most opportunity to sleep, drives the van. The other three Crescendolls are sort of leaning back in their seats, half asleep and also probably sort of half maddened by what they've been through. How sure actually are they of their identities, at this point? How "real" does either world seem, if they can even distinguish the two in their memories? Meanwhile, Sahn'hik lays in the back, unmoving. Dead or unconscious, it's not clear.

As the sun rises higher, they see some vibrant bucolic scenery that seems to raise their spirits a little. The details of this scenery also make it clear that the city they just left is definitely not New York.

Robotwig's lair looked like it was near the Alps. Looks like he may not have flown them nearly as far away from there as I thought. I didn't see any particularly distinctive landmarks, I don't think, so I guess they could have been in any large European city that's near the coast. Maybe somewhere in France, due to that being Daft Punk's country of origin. In any case, it's some really pretty scenery. Not quite as memorable as the space stuff or the Tealosian city, but pretty damned nice to look at.

They drive along until they get to...wherever this place is supposed to be:

Looks like they're doing a funeral for Sahn'hik. Or at least some kind of ritual, if not that.

Not sure if this is a landmark they heard about, learned via implanted memories, or if they just drove along until they spotted a place with appropriately grandiose photosynthesizers. In any case, I think we're about to get another glimpse of Tealiosian culture.

...Oh my god wouldn't it be hilarious if they solemnly barbecued and ate the body, as per the ancient traditions of their people? I know, I know, it would totally ruin the everything of the movie, but I'd lol.

Unfortunately, it turns out that either the dominant funerary customs on Tealios are uncannily similar to those of modern Earth, or the Crescendolls' memories still have too much overwriting to remember their own traditions. What we get is disappointingly pedestrian. They even put flowers on the grave.

Would I have actually preferred funerary cannibalism to this? Yes No, but I would have preferred if they did something at least a *little* out of the ordinary by our standards. Even if it's just a matter of using an unusual grave marker or doing an unfamiliar ritual over the pit or something similarly small. I'm remembering the feeling I got from the first half of the "One More Time" sequence; the sense of a civilization that is beautiful and good, and also distinctly not ours. I feel like giving us another tiny glimpse of the alien culture here would make the sendoff for Sahn'hik more powerful. A reminder that he lost his life here on this distant, unknown world in order to remind them of what they are and where they came from.

I guess it could be that this is meant to be a tragic subversion of that. Even with the glasses broken and their true names regained, they can't remember enough of their people's customs to bury their rescuer properly. They are forced to copy the traditions of their abusers down to the flowers, a mark of subjugation even in their successful escape A sign that the damage can never be fully undone, or at least that it will take years of pain and effort to undo it. That could be a powerful statement too.

The problem is that it really feels like the creators just didn't think about this at all.

Also, S'telha looks particularly morose during and after the burial. Did she and him have an actual thing? I really don't know what to make of that subplot, especially now that it conclusively DIDN'T ever go anywhere consequential.

They do a little handholding chain at the end though. So, maybe I spoke too soon about this being a missed chance to show a bit of alien burial ceremony? Or are they just holding onto each other for comfort with no further significance?

Could be either. The postures do look a biiiit ritualistic though, so I suppose I'll take what I can get.

And then...oh. Okay, never mind. I did in fact speak too soon. Sort of? Sort of.

So, this happens:

And then this:

And then the four of them react like this:

They look shocked at first, but then very quickly get ahold of themselves and do this salute as if it were the most natural thing in the world for them.

Okay, so yeah, that's not how these things typically work on Earth. You win, movie. I was wrong. I take it back.

I guess the way I'll choose to interpret this is that their cultural memories have been overwritten, but Sahn'hik's magic soul-ascending lightshow manages to take place even despite this, and it only took a second of watching it before they remembered that this is, in fact, how a funeral is supposed to end. Demonstrating the possibility for recovery and rehabilitation, and showing that they can never take everything from you even if it looks like they have. Okay, yeah, I like that.

...

To be clear: I actually totally forgot about this scene before I started this LW. So, my reactions to it, both before and after the ghostly apparition, are genuine.

...

Sahn'hik's soul shoots up into space leaving a patch of flowering alien vegetation at its grave site. Potential to return from whence they were taken, new growth and life of the kind they pine for enabled by Sahn'hik's sacrifice, symbolism symbolism. S'telha takes one of the weird flowers that bloomed from the ground and clutches it near her face. She cries a single tear on it, and that causes a little spark of light to detatch from the flower and fly up into space after Sahn'hik's ghost.

I really don't know what their relationship is supposed to have been, so - unlike the preceding spectacle - this doesn't really make me feel much of anything.

They start driving to...somewhere? I don't think they know what the hell they're supposed to do now...until they see a roadsign bearing a familiar name.

I looked online for "Redell" to see if I could determine what country they're in. But, apparently it's a fictional city invented for this movie, so I guess I still can't! More importantly though, "Darkwood" is the same location that Robotwig von Darkwood's tailored suit was apparently delivered to. So, they just happened into the villain's own neighbourhood.

...the Golden Record award ceremony just happened to be in the city that's a few hours' drive from his home? Erm...is that also the same city that the record company is located in? If so, why did he bother flying them there when a drive would have done?

Aside from them recognizing the name, the little holographic prism thingy Sahn'hik gave them is lighting up like it detects something important nearby. Maybe it senses other advanced technology? Or it's just a medium for Sahn'hik's soul to give them guidance through, since he appeared to pull it out of his mind before? Maybe? I don't know.

Deciding that they have no better leads to pursue, the Crescendolls take a right turn and drive toward Darkwood Manor to see if they can...I don't know, at least learn something about the bad guy if nothing else. If they happen to find the ignition key for the Shark, that would also be worth their while, though I imagine they'll need to deal with quite a few cyborg commandoes to get to it. But hey, I've got faith in them!

They drive toward...erm...the Land of Always Winter?

Robotwig sure owns some interesting real estate.


That's it for this post. Next one is going to be...long.