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starladyOmoide no Maanii | When Marni Was There (2014), dir. Yonebayashi Hiromasa
When I realized, a few hours before I was supposed to meet my friend to see this movie in Shibuya, that the newest Ghibli movie was directed by the same guy who directed Arrietty, which I thought was basically a flaming pile of poo, I was very worried. But I actually enjoyed the movie quite a lot! It's not a major work, but I liked it a lot, and in a lot of ways it actually reminded me of Maleficent in that the most important relationship is between two female characters, and that it is chock-a-block with lesbian overtones.
The movie shares Arrietty's general concept of "Western children's literature transposed to Japan" (it's adapted from a British novel by Joan G. Robinson) and follows friendless adoptee Anna, who is put on a train to Hokkaidou to spend the summer vacation with her adopted mother's family. She's a loner whose only real pleasure is in her sketchbook, and so it's not surprising that she becomes obsessed with an abandoned Western-style mansion on the far shore of the tidal bay. Despite being told that it's uninhabited, one night she meets a girl named Marni there, and they soon become fast friends. Of course, that's when things get interesting, and to say more would be spoilery (although to be fair, the audience never entirely shares Anna's obsessive disregard for facts, so we're always waiting for the other shoe to drop for some reason).
The movie is fairly direct about Anna's loneliness and the joy she finds in her friendship with Marni; partly because Anna is a little older than most Ghibli heroine, her emotions are often quite affecting, and the supporting characters, particularly Sayaka and Hisako, are well-drawn. Quite a few people teared up at the end, which although somewhat melancholy was also very satisfying. I definitely recommend seeing it if you can, although of course I can't vouch for what horrors may or may not be inflicted on the movie in the dubbing process.
When I realized, a few hours before I was supposed to meet my friend to see this movie in Shibuya, that the newest Ghibli movie was directed by the same guy who directed Arrietty, which I thought was basically a flaming pile of poo, I was very worried. But I actually enjoyed the movie quite a lot! It's not a major work, but I liked it a lot, and in a lot of ways it actually reminded me of Maleficent in that the most important relationship is between two female characters, and that it is chock-a-block with lesbian overtones.
The movie shares Arrietty's general concept of "Western children's literature transposed to Japan" (it's adapted from a British novel by Joan G. Robinson) and follows friendless adoptee Anna, who is put on a train to Hokkaidou to spend the summer vacation with her adopted mother's family. She's a loner whose only real pleasure is in her sketchbook, and so it's not surprising that she becomes obsessed with an abandoned Western-style mansion on the far shore of the tidal bay. Despite being told that it's uninhabited, one night she meets a girl named Marni there, and they soon become fast friends. Of course, that's when things get interesting, and to say more would be spoilery (although to be fair, the audience never entirely shares Anna's obsessive disregard for facts, so we're always waiting for the other shoe to drop for some reason).
The movie is fairly direct about Anna's loneliness and the joy she finds in her friendship with Marni; partly because Anna is a little older than most Ghibli heroine, her emotions are often quite affecting, and the supporting characters, particularly Sayaka and Hisako, are well-drawn. Quite a few people teared up at the end, which although somewhat melancholy was also very satisfying. I definitely recommend seeing it if you can, although of course I can't vouch for what horrors may or may not be inflicted on the movie in the dubbing process.