Something Borrowed, Something Blue
I don't know about you, but my entry point to anime was via Studio Ghibli ("Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind", if you're asking). And Hayao Miyazaki's 2002 Academy Award for "Spirited Away" and the timely arrival on DVD of the studio's back catalogue have enabled many more new viewers to discover and explore these magical Ghibli realms in recent years. No doubt a number have also used these movies as stepping stones towards the more specialised thrills of serialised anime too...
So why are we talking Ghibli today? Well for starters, there's the studio's latest offering to salivate over. It's their 18th feature, if you're counting these things. "The Borrower Arrietty" ("Karigurashi no Arrietti") is adapted from Mary Norton's classic children's story about a family of little people - Borrowers - who live in the same home as a human family. Jim Broadbent and John Goodman starred in a live-action version, back in 1997, and before that we had a serialised adaptation on the BBC. The Ghibli version has been directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who's animated on a number of previous studio offerings but this is his first time helming. The film opened in Japan on July 17th. Here's the trailer:
Even in this quick snippety form, you can see there's a fantastic sense of place and scale about the film. That's a haunting title song too, from French harpist Cecile Corbel. Could Yonebayashi be the successor to Miyazaki's throne? There has been much ongoing debate about this, with Hayao now being 69 years old and threatening impending retirement with every new movie. The need to find the next in line has become ever more important.
One such previous contender was Hayao's own son Goro Miyazaki. In 2006 he directed "Tales from Earthsea" ("Gedo Senki") for the studio. It was adapted from four of the "Earthsea" books by Ursula Le Guin, and it's in the news again because it's finally getting a theatrical release in the States this month:
It would be lovely to say it had been worth that four year wait, but unfortunately,
"Tales from Earthsea" is a lesser offering from the studio. It's a slow and sombre film. The sort of film where people talk a lot before doing anything, and not really doing much when they finally act. For a story about magic and dragons there is little of either on offer, and we are pushed towards some kind of climax, instead of being roused into action. It just never truly soars. On the plus side, however, all the Ghibli design tropes are there; beautiful architecture, evocative skies, and some strong characters. But those landscapes seem just a little empty when compared to Hayao's, and all that anguish doesn't seem to take us anywhere special. I guess it lacks imagination, which is a real shame, given the potential of the source material. Now, that's not to say it isn't a perfectly fine film and head and shoulders above most anime output, but it's just that Ghibli have set the bar so very high for themselves. It's probably one for the converted, rather than being a film to convert. Newcomers may just wonder what the fuss is about...
"Tales from Earthsea" is a lesser offering from the studio. It's a slow and sombre film. The sort of film where people talk a lot before doing anything, and not really doing much when they finally act. For a story about magic and dragons there is little of either on offer, and we are pushed towards some kind of climax, instead of being roused into action. It just never truly soars. On the plus side, however, all the Ghibli design tropes are there; beautiful architecture, evocative skies, and some strong characters. But those landscapes seem just a little empty when compared to Hayao's, and all that anguish doesn't seem to take us anywhere special. I guess it lacks imagination, which is a real shame, given the potential of the source material. Now, that's not to say it isn't a perfectly fine film and head and shoulders above most anime output, but it's just that Ghibli have set the bar so very high for themselves. It's probably one for the converted, rather than being a film to convert. Newcomers may just wonder what the fuss is about...
So let's leave it to the master to show us how it's done. "Ponyo" washed on to UK home video a few weeks ago, and - my goodness - what a wonderful watery delight it is, especially on Blu-ray, where each wave and ripple and every dorsal fin is pinpoint sharp.
"Ponyo" is Hayao Miyazaki's take on the story of "The Little Mermaid". At least, that's how the press release likes to refer to it, but I'd say it's more of a stepping stone towards a film that's far more interested in exploring the relationships between fathers and their daughters, mothers and their sons, and the young and the elderly. Just like "My Neighbour Totoro", the film lingers on the day-to-day discoveries of its wide-eyed youngsters. The boy Sosuke is particularly well defined. He takes Ponyo and her aquatic wonders at face value, just like kids do. He's a confident kid, and he's instantly smitten with his new aquatic girlfriend, but we can see a constant seesawing in him. He still seeks the reassuring hand of his mother as he explores Ponyo's world. So the tears come when he loses her, and the waters threaten to engulf him. Meanwhile his mother has her own needs, she misses her husband and the day threatens to overwhelm her too, at times. But her son is there to help her see the simple things in life again. In other words, these two need each other. And we need more films like this. There's such depth to this one - too much to analyse right here, right now. Some reviewers have concentrated too hard on the film's meandering plot. But this film doesn't want to focus on story, it's far more interested in spectacle, on being an experience. Water, air, and wonder take centre stage. Just sit back and let Ponyo's brilliant blue waters engulf you...
