I wasn't big fan of some of Ghibli's latest pictures, notably The Wind Rises and From Up On Poppy Hill which felt like a chore for me watching them. Hooray the Miyazakis are making films they want to make! But yawn it's not something I want to see. But boy this was a treat to my eyes, ears and, yeah yeah, heart.
With a plot that might sound like a psycho-sexual horror thriller if told by wrong voices (In evil Cumberbatch voice: A sick girl is lured into an abandoned mansion by a mysterious blond woman who has some dark secrets and her own motives), this film has classic Ghibli elements: A young girl with problems. Well-meaning adults. (Beautiful) Country side. Supernatural (?) friend. You spend the first half hour just enjoying the beautiful pictures and ticking off your To-See List for a Ghibli film.
Very very slight spoilers ahead.
Then Marnie appears. I realized what the film was doing but was still mystified by it. Got to admit the change of scenes didn't really feel connected. I guess it was hard for the makers too since they resorted to "stuff disappeared while the heroine dosed off" cliché. However this is not faulting the contents but the glue.
There was a moment where I smiled and whispered "Aha!" 15 minutes before the final revelation and ended up proved wrong with a clever twist on the twist. Wow. What a pay-off it had. The obligatory explanation sequence was turned into something powerful and resonant and it's thanks to the build-up that may have baffled you earlier.
It's a shame that this film lost out to the annual regurgitation of tired old Pokemon: The Movie series. The director Yonebayashi made Arrietty for Ghibli which easily trumps Goro Miyazaki's attempts at direction. Hope the next film he makes doesn't take the same step of his two previous works and go for a whole world of fantasy.
With a plot that might sound like a psycho-sexual horror thriller if told by wrong voices (In evil Cumberbatch voice: A sick girl is lured into an abandoned mansion by a mysterious blond woman who has some dark secrets and her own motives), this film has classic Ghibli elements: A young girl with problems. Well-meaning adults. (Beautiful) Country side. Supernatural (?) friend. You spend the first half hour just enjoying the beautiful pictures and ticking off your To-See List for a Ghibli film.
Very very slight spoilers ahead.
Then Marnie appears. I realized what the film was doing but was still mystified by it. Got to admit the change of scenes didn't really feel connected. I guess it was hard for the makers too since they resorted to "stuff disappeared while the heroine dosed off" cliché. However this is not faulting the contents but the glue.
There was a moment where I smiled and whispered "Aha!" 15 minutes before the final revelation and ended up proved wrong with a clever twist on the twist. Wow. What a pay-off it had. The obligatory explanation sequence was turned into something powerful and resonant and it's thanks to the build-up that may have baffled you earlier.
It's a shame that this film lost out to the annual regurgitation of tired old Pokemon: The Movie series. The director Yonebayashi made Arrietty for Ghibli which easily trumps Goro Miyazaki's attempts at direction. Hope the next film he makes doesn't take the same step of his two previous works and go for a whole world of fantasy.