Tag: MiyazakiMarchMondays

#140RVW

1st Studio Ghibli film distributed in States by Disney is typically beautiful & lighthearted fare from Miyazaki-san. Short but not slight…

ディズニーで米国で配布さ第一スタジオジブリフィルムは宮崎さんからの通常美しい＆気軽運賃です。短いが、わずかではない···

What’s more:

Kiki’s Delivery Service takes place in a world that is familiar yet seemingly more pleasant. For one thing, no one seems uneasy with the idea of witches flying around; it’s nearly commonplace. The story also takes place in a beautiful seaside city that seems generically European, combining the best elements of all of the major cities. I usually do some reading after watching a film and before writing about it (so I don’t influence my opinion of the film on first viewing), and I found comments by Miyazaki that he intended this to be set in a n alternate 1950’s Europe where no world wars had ever taken place.

So Kiki is born into an idyllic time, and when she turns thirteen, like all young witches, she is to go off and live alone for one year in training. It’s a perfect vehicle to examine how young girls explore their independence & no one writes for young girls better than Miyazaki.

Kiki’s constant companion is her cat, Jiji, who helps her work through her growing pains as she attempts to make a home for herself in the big city. Jiji speaks to Kiki but no one else. I asked why this was so and received a nasty look from my daughter, so just go with it.

Kiki finds the townspeople ill-disposed to a young witch, but after performing a small service for a local baker, finds herself a home and the means to start up a local delivery service. As she can make deliveries via flying broomstick, she seems to have made a good career choice, as long as she can sort out her feelings for a local boy.

Kiki’s Delivery Service is a fun little movie. It’s colorfully designed and beautifully realized. It’s not as serious or weird as some of Miyazaki’s movies, yet not as layered or ambitious either. It might be a good introduction to the style for newcomers. It’s very enjoyable.

 As with all of the English dubbed films, it’s a mixed bag. While Kiki doesn’t have any of the serious cultural themes that get lost in translation, there may be subtleties lost in the subtitles.

The voice acting is unremarkable, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Kirsten Dunst does a credible job voicing a thirteen year old, as she wasn’t much older at the time, and she isn’t bad, which is usually the best you can hope for from her. Janeane Garofalo is also in it. Take everything I just said about Dunst and repeat.

Jiji the cat, is voiced in the US dub by Phil Hartman. While I absolutely love Hartman, it’s sort of an unfortunate choice, as they went for a very sarcastic approach that apparently isn’t consistent with the original Japanese version. The film was one of his last, released posthumously and dedicated to him.

I’d heartily recommend Kiki to Miyazaki newbies, particularly young girls and their families.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: A (13 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

Main Cast	Kirsten Dunst Kiki (voice: English version), Minami Takayama Kiki/Ursula (voice), Rei Sakuma Jiji (voice), Kappei Yamaguchi Tombo (voice)
Rating	G
Release Date	Sat 29 Jul 1989 UTC
Director	Hayao Miyazaki
Genres	Animation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy
Plot	A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.
Poster
Runtime	103
Tagline	I was feeling blue, but I’m better now.
Writers	Eiko Kadono (novel), Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)
Year	1989

#140RVW

VERY different kind of movie from what I’m used to from Miyazaki-san. Really violent & often gross, it’s pitilessly long & kinda confusing.

私は宮崎さんから慣れたものから、映画の非常に異なる種類。本当に暴力＆しばしばグロス、それは本当に長いとちょっとわかりにくいです。 

What’s more:

I had some trouble with this one. It is a very different look and feel to any of the Miyazaki films I’ve screened so far. A much-more action-oriented picture, it’s quite violent and at times it’s frankly gross. (The demonic infestation of people and animals with worm-like tendrils reminded me all too well of the explicit adult-oriented anime that I found seriously disturbing in high school and college.) I honestly sort of wished my daughter missed this one.

Not sure what I’m talking about? Let me lay the story on you:

Gorgeous Studio Ghibli landscapes of Japanese countryside are torn apart as a demon comes to destroy our hero’s village. The monster is a massive boar god that has been consumed by demonic, writhing black and purple tendrils that make the creature look like a disgusting, pulsing spider that burns away everything it touches. Prince Ashitaka saves his village by shooting the beast in each eye with arrows, whereupon it rots and decays nearly instantly, leaving a smoking skeleton. Sound good so far?

I forgot to mention that before killing the beast, the prince’s forearm was grabbed by the creature so he now has discolored scars that are spreading throughout his body as they kill him. He is given a terminal diagnosis, and advised to take his smelly arm west, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear but involve the possibility of a cure. Why they don’t simply amputate said diseased arm is never explored.

Because there is some sort of rule mandating the use of at least one truly ugly human being in all of his films, we are introduced to Jigo, a red-nosed monk voiced in the English version by a horribly miscast Billy Bob Thornton. I really can’t imagine a worse choice. He appears to be there for exposition only, but sadly he will return.

At this point we still haven’t met the titular Princess, but she does finally show up on the road to Iron Town, which is meant to invoke Western mining towns but feels more like something from Mad Max since it’s populated with whores and lepers.

I don’t plan on spoiling the whole story; suffice it to say that before we are done there will be decapitations, shootings, blood spitting, leprosy, god-killing, and worst of all, more Billy Bob Thornton.

You might think by my tone that the violence is my biggest criticism of Princess Mononoke – it’s not. The problem with the story is that the protagonist acts in maddeningly inconsistent ways; it’s never clear whose side he is on or what is his goal from moment to moment. He seems committed to both save AND destroy Minnie Driver’s Lady Eboshi, whose own actions are erratic. She wants to rule the world and fight samurai, whose presence and motives are never explained. But she also wants to kill the Forest Spirit – or is that what Jigo wants? No, it’s what the Emperor wants. Wait, who the hell is the Emperor? When did he get involved with this story?

I know this is the favorite Miyazaki movie for a lot of people and I really wanted to like it. I sure didn’t dislike it. I just really couldn’t get past the muddled story or how long it took for all of these things to happen. There are some truly breathtaking scenes and the action is amazing. With some work this could be the best in its genre.

And maybe this is all just lost in translation. Maybe there are cultural themes here that the story is relying on that I am just missing. But that’s not my problem – you need to make sure it plays to all audiences or why are you releasing it here? Maybe it’s the fault of Miramax, who acquired it. Without an ambassador like John Lasseter maybe it wasn’t handled properly. It’s still worth watching.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: B (9 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

Main Cast	Yôji Matsuda Ashitaka (voice), Yuriko Ishida San/Mononoke-Hime (voice), Yûko Tanaka Eboshi-gozen (voice), Billy Crudup Ashitaka (voice: English version)
Rating	PG-13
Release Date	Sat 12 Jul 1997 UTC
Director	Hayao Miyazaki
Genres	Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
Plot	On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami’s curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
Poster
Runtime	134
Tagline	The Fate Of The World Rests On The Courage Of One Warrior.
Writers	Hayao Miyazaki (written by)
Year	1997

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

The first of a new series, Miyazaki March Mondays. I haven’t seen all of his works, but I’m still going to say this is his best achievement.

宮崎月月曜日、新シリーズの最初の。私は彼の作品のすべてを見ていないが、私はまだ、これは彼の最高の成果であると言うつもりです。

Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Wind Rises:

Hayao Miyazaki has announced his retirement. The Wind Rises reportedly will be his last film. (Or is it? There are now reports he is or has rescinded his retirement. Evidently this is something he has done a number of times.) Apparently he was saving the best for last; we should all be so fortunate to go out on top.

Now, I’m late to the Miyazaki party; I’ve only seen a few of his films so far, which is partly why I’m going to dedicate Mondays in the month of March to reviewing some of his classics. (The other reason is that my daughter is an enormous fan.) So, since I’ve only seen a couple of his movies, is it really fair to declare The Wind Rises his best? Yes. Yes it is. Because The Wind Rises is possibly the greatest hand-animated film ever made. I’m not really comparing it with his other films; I’m comparing it (favorably) to ever other animated film of all time.

This was the first of his films I’ve seen on the big screen, and that possibly leads me to have a greater impression of the grandeur and vastness of his scenes than I would at home. But I don’t think so. The sweeping vistas and clarity of screen composition is something I’ve been drawn to in each of his films.

In fact, the striking visuals of his movies may distract from his other talents as a filmmaker. What it most characteristic of Miyazaki films in my mind is not the visual style, it’s the narrative style. The pacing is truly unique. These stories breathe and shift; they are allowed time to develop. I often speak of pacing in my reviews; I consider pacing to be one of the most important elements in the success or failure of a film. And the unhurried narrative in Miyazaki’s films, and The Wind Rises in particular, provides a welcome respite from the breakneck speed of most films (especially animated ones). That’s not to say that they can’t become a bit slow, and the less engaging stories can drag on, but when you’ve got a good tale, it’s refreshing to be afforded the time and opportunity to let it find its own rhythm.

Miyazaki seems to have a sense of wonder about the world that leads to this style of filmmaking. In The Wind Rises, this view is personified in the main character, Jiro Horikoshi, whose childish fascination with flight seems undimmed throughout years of often fruitless striving for aeronautic success. Through setbacks and struggle, Jiro never seems to lose this sense of wonder or shed his genial outlook.

Horikoshi makes for a wonderful protagonist because of his talents but especially because of his single-minded love of flight. He is a brilliantly human character, as well; full of flaws that give the story depth. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a natural for the part; his voice is quite fitting. In fact, none of the celebrity voices really distract, although I still greatly prefer to watch a film in the language in which it was filmed.

For my money, though, the success of this film is largely attributable to the story. I have long maintained that many artists do their best work when they work within the constraints of someone else’s input; film adaptations are our culture’s variations on a theme. There is something about having source material to inform the work that beautifully focuses gifted filmmakers.

The Wind Rises is a perfect example. This is the first time (to my knowledge) that Miyazaki has based his work on a real person. Jiro Horikoshi’s life was first chronicled in Tatsuo Hori’s short novel “The Wind Has Risen”, written in 1936–1937, then turned into a manga by Miyazaki in 2009. While the story of Horikoshi’s personal life appears to be largely fictionalized, his legacy as an engineer follows the historical record, and Miyazaki wisely takes as his cue a quote from Jiro Horikoshi: “All I wanted to do was to make something beautiful.”

This last point is hugely important, as audiences, not exclusively but certainly American audiences, may have trouble with a major concept here: Horikoshi’s work directly led to the planes that bombed Pearl Harbor. It’s not a minor consideration, and Miyazaki doesn’t treat it as one. The entire film is predicated on the idea that these men of science struggle with the reality of their creations. The engineers are all too aware of the military ends to which their inventions will be used; it is a constant theme that haunts Horikoshi and his colleagues. The subject is treated with respect and never sugarcoats reality.

The Wind Rises is an absolute triumph; it is among the greatest animated films ever made. Please take the opportunity to see it in theaters if you can.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: B (10 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

Main Cast	Joseph Gordon-Levitt Jirô Horikoshi (voice: English version), John Krasinski Honjô (voice: English version), Emily Blunt Nahoko Satomi (voice: English version), Martin Short Kurokawa (voice: English version)
Rating	PG-13
Release Date	Sat 20 Jul 2013 UTC
Director	Hayao Miyazaki
Genres	Animation, Biography, Drama, History, Romance, War
Plot	A look at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II.
Poster
Runtime	126
Tagline	Ikineba. (We must live.)
Writers	Hayao Miyazaki (comic), Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)
Year	2013