A Japanese animation movie based on a comic by Osamu Tezuka, that tells the story of android Tima and her human friend Kenichi in the city of Metropolis. It is loosely based in the classic movie of the 1920s.
Metropolis shares with Astroboy two of Tezuka's themes: 1/ Father-son troublesome relationship due to the Father's rejection and unloving treatment of the son. 2/ The presence of a great variety of old-style chunky robots and very developed humanoids who ask themselves what/who I'm I?
The animation is flamboyant and amazing regarding the settings, backgrounds, architecture and machinery, and combines 2-D and 3-D mixed with some real movie elements. Some of the scenes at the end of the movie are spectacular from a visual point of view.
The mood of the movie is excellent, with the creation of a retro-futuristic city very developed, but impoverished and without freedom. We have the bright city and the underworld, with different colours and styles.
The music is fantastic, also retro, with lots of Mow-Town, classic Jazz, alternating with symphonic pieces that reminded me of John Williams'.
The script, though, is a poor mix of well-known sci-fi elements and characters. I found the script not engaging most of the time, not only because of the lack of originality of the same, but, above all, because of the drawing of the characters is completely childish, which barely fits with the innovative and more artistic style of the rest of the movie. Tima and Kenichi are beautifully drawn, and, being children, the style suits them, but the adults are drawn in a very different style, very 1970s cartons!, which doesn't seem to give visual homogenity to the film or fit the story.
I felt that the movie was perfect for teenagers, with elements that would suit both children and young adults, not as much for adults, unless you are a Tezuka's fan. Entertaining nevertheless.
All About Our House, also known as Everyone's House, is a Japanese contemporary comedy that tells the trouble into which a posh young couple puts themselves into after they decide to build a western-style house and, and instead of entrusting the construction to the wife's father -a traditional builder and carpenter- they do to a Westernised interior designer and unlicensed architect.
This is a subtle comedy that shows with charm and insight the social and personal dysfunctions that modern Japanese families find due to generational gaps and cultural clash due to the struggle to combine a Western lifestyle in a society that has deep traditional roots in their culture. The food scenes and food play an important role in the film, and appear as a bridge of communication between generations, and something that serves to amalgamate their differences.
The main roles are played by Naoki Tanaka (as Naosuke, the husband), Akiko Yagi (as Tamiko, the wife), Toshiaki Karasawa (Mr. Yanagisawa, the interior designer) and Kunie Tanaka (Tamiko's father). All of them are terrific in their respective roles, but Naoki Takana and Kunie Tanaka shine as the funny husband and the strict sbut good-hearted father, respectively.
The movie, however, has an uneven tone as the first part of it is mostly a light comedy, while the second one is much more serious and philosophical. I missed a little bit of equilibrium and fusion of both genres to get a rounder film. H
This is a delightful film that shows with humour and sensitivity the issues affecting inter-generational relations in modern Japan, very far from Manga, Geishas and other stereotypes of the Japanese culture we are used to focus in the West.
Nobody Knows tells the story of a group of four siblings before and after their abandonment by their mother.
The movie is magical and poetical, but also heartbreakingly hard, from the first scenes to the ending. It has great lyric moments combined with very lovely light ones.
I was surprised that the director and the script did not use such a hard story to make the viewer sob, or to make the viewer mourn for the children. That would have been not only predictable but make the script mundane, and not the lyric piece it is. Instead, the viewer witnesses the children's hopes, hunger, despair, acceptance, survival, union and happiness, despite everything. Although the story of the misery of the children is explicitly told, what catches the viewer's eye is the emotional positive outcome that misery brings to these kids. One of the things that shows this clearly, is the part related to the secret garden that the kids start to grow in their balcony, and the enthusiasm and effort that they put into it.
Sometimes you feel so immersed in the life of the siblings, that you feel as if you were there, enduring the heat, the bad odours, the hunger, the playfulness, and their problems. That is so because the director creates a very intimate connection with the viewer, something really special.
The children actors are UNBELIEVABLE, especially the leading young actor, Yuya Yagira, who delights us with a moving mature strong performance. You do not feel they are actors performing, giving life to a script, but real children abandoned and filmed. That says a lot about the art director, too.
I did not like the title, which does not convey what happens in the movie. Nobody Cares would have been a more accurate one.
Not easy to watch, but extremely beautiful.
The Grave of the Fireflies is the story of survival of two Japanese brothers: 4y.o. girl Satsuko and her 14y.o brother Saita, at the end of the Second World War in Japan. It is based on the semi-biographical novel by Akiyuki Nosaka.
Grave of the Fireflies is one of the saddest stories and movies I have ever seen. It puts a face to the children of any war, those who lose everything and are left with nothing, those too easily forgotten and so easily neglected. What makes the movie sad is the verisimilitude of the story, that something like that happened and is happening any time that there is a war anywhere in the world.
The animation is marvellous, colourful, attentive to the detail, scenic and intimate, with a lyricism that only Ghibli’s Studies are able to create. The drawing of the Japanese countryside is simply superb, and the same can be said of the city destroyed environments. The atmosphere is great. The colours are precious - a little more saturated than usual for Ghibli’s. The music by Michio Mamiya is extremely subtle and beautiful, perfect for the story.
The characters of the two brothers are wonderfully drawn and dubbed by the Japanese actors. Some of the intimate scenes of the two brothers are really magical, especially the ones involving the fireflies that give tittle to the movie.
What is great about this movie is that, very soon, you forget that you are watching animation, as the story is so strong, captivating and engaging, that those drawn characters become real - alive. Please watch it in Japanese with English subtitles, otherwise you will miss a bit of the essence of the film.
A classic animation movie difficult to forget, soulful and marvellous in every possible way. One of those movies that should be in any bucket movie list. So good it is. One of the best animation film I have ever seen and ever made. No doubt. No perhaps. Go and grab it.
Kiki's Delivery service is a Studio Ghibli's traditional hand-drawn animation movie loosely based on Eiko Kadono's eponymous book, but with important additions by Miyazaki. It tells the story of Kiki, a 13's y.o. witch who leaves the family home with her cat Jiji to get a life of her own and start her training as a witch in a big city away from parents and friends.
It is a Ghibli's trademark the detail and artistic drawing of the scenery and cityscapes, and Kiki's is no exception. It has a precious and colourful drawing. The European city where Kiki goes is a mix of Northern European architecture and Southern European lighting and mood. The time frame is an imprecise point in time, a golden-era of peace and tolerance, set around the 1950s, but with elements that go from the 30s (the zeppelin) to the 60s (B&W TV), with other elements that can be placed in between.
Three elements stand out in this movie beyond the hand-drawn precious animation. The first one is Kiki's story - a metaphor of the changes that take us from childhood to adulthood, from being in the family's womb, many times taking for granted what we have, to being alone, unprotected, standing by ourselves, defining who we are and want to be as individuals. Jiji's evolution with regards to Kiki is just the result of Kiki's transformation into an adult, not of the cat's changing ways!
The second element is very Miyazaki's - the presence of magical and non-magical elements combined harmoniously in a world of good-natured tolerant humans that accept magic as a natural thing, like Kiki's flying her broom through a city making courier deliveries.
Thirdly, this is a movie about women, female nature and sisterhood. Except for Tombo -Kiki's admirer and good-natured inventive friend- the main characters are powerful savy women: Osono, the pregnant baker, represents acceptance without questions, maternal care, the City, hard work and determination. Ursula the painter, on the contrary, represents freedom, personal independence, individuality, the wild, the follow your heart and explore your soul message. Finally, the two old ladies in the blue-roofed house -Madam and Bertha- are examples of kindness, carefulness, attention to the detail, old manners and class. In fact, Kiki finds a mother, two grandmas and a big sister in the city. Miyazki's Europe is, it seems, a a matriarchal society.
There a few points that I would have liked further explored with extra footage, as the movie is enjoyable, and the ending was unnecessarily hasted and leaves you with a big sweet and sour after-taste. Still, Kiki is an adorable
story with lovable characters, that is entertaining and good for both
children and adults, especially if you love magic realism and Ghibli and Miyakazi's magic worlds.
A warning - Some of the DVDs come with several dubbing versions and several captions. Beware, the original first dubbing of the original was done without respect to the original, and changes and mutates the dialogues without respect, changes the tone of the movie and even transforms Jiji into a sarcastic adult cat. It is not a proper dubbing but an interpretation with additions to the original made by Disney. It is shameful and disrespectful and you better ignore it. There is a second American dubbing that is truthful to the original. Watch the original Japanese with captions, and choose the captions that follow the Japanese script not the invented superposed American. Who wants to watch an adulteration when the original is perfect?
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a Miyazaki's animation feature based on his eponymous Manga. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which the land is divided in three remaining hostile kingdoms: the people leaving in the Valley of the Winds, the Pejites, and the Tolmekians. Nausicaa is the princess of the Valley, a especial young lady in tune with Nature, who respects and loves her people. The human kingdoms are always threaten by the Sea of Decay, an exuberant toxic jungle inhabited by giant prehistoric-like insects who react to human hostility with destruction, spreading the toxicity of the Sea to those who dare to provoke them.
Nausicaa's plot is action-packet, original, with weird creatures, lovable characters and a great lyric soundtrack. We find Miyazaki's usual animation landmarks: 1/ European landscapes and undefined time appearance (in this case Swiss-like, with a revamped medieval atmosphere). 2/ Prehistoric-like creatures (in this case, insects). 3/ A female heroine who fights like any man, but always has great femininity (Nausicaa always wears her red earrings). 4/ A heavy presence of catalytic women, presented most of the time as strong, wise, common-sensed and supportive characters (only the nasty princess of the Tolmekians contradicts this). 5/ A cute animal pet that is the hero's soul-mate and inseparable companion. 6/ A clear environmental and pacifist message and 7/ a wonderful detailed animation with subdued hues.
The drawing is very inventive and with a great attention to the detail, especially brilliant regarding the depiction of the Sea of Decay and the underground land below it, which are utterly beautiful. The Sea of Decay reminded me very much in style and spirit of the backgrounds and Bosh-like vegetation and fauna of Planet Fantastic, but more elaborated, exuberant and compact in Nausicaa.
Unlike many modern animation movies, Miyazaki's movies always have a perfect equilibrium between the artistry of the drawing/animation, on one hand, and the quality of the story, on the other. That is why a movie like this, made in the 1980s, is still as enchanting, fresh and though-provoking as it was in the past. The message of the film is that even the ugliest creature and plant has a purpose on earth, a purpose per se and as a part of the whole to which it is connected. The movie tells you that if you respect people and Nature, you get respect back, and that it is easier to live with yourself and the others if one understands and respect the environment. This is not my favourite Miyazaki movie, perhaps because it is too feisty for my taste, and because I thought the confrontation between the three kingdoms needed of more explanation than the one provided in the film.
This is a beautiful entertaining full-action movie, with a great environmental pacifist message, and Miyazaki's always beautiful drawing and magic universe.
Please watch it in Japanese with English subtitles, as the American dubbed version is too childish and far from the original interpretations.
The Good
The movie reminds me of Miyazaki magic worlds and stories, and of his precious 2-D animation.
The recreation of the world of dreams is really amazing, so realistically oniric in narrative and visuals. I especially liked the repeating scene of the cop in the corridor, which is true onirism brought to life. However, all the scenes even the craziest ones, are incredible as they bring to life the feelings, sensations and awkwardness of the oniric world. That's so difficult to do!
The colours of the movie are eye candy, especially the ones in the dreams. In fact, there is a contrast between the glee and bright colours of the dream world, and the grey and subdued tones of the real world. However, when reality and dream start to merge we get a mix of both. I find this extremely interesting, because most movies would colour reality and dreams inversely, and that is very mainstream.
The plot is crazy, sometimes confusing, not enough grounded, but, hey, this is a movie about dreams, and you have to put yourself in your dreaming mood, and, like in a dream, you don't need the whole story to make sense, as dreams rarely do that. Said this, I found the story related to Detective Konakawa really intriguing and very well narrated, and his character very interesting. Also believable the character of the overweight childish scientist Dr. Tokita.
The So-so
The main female character, Dr Atsuko, is a very intriguing character, but, sometimes, the viewer doesn't fully understand why she is so cold in real life, and why, her alter ego is so warm and cheery. Moreover, we don't know why Paprika is the key to solve all the dream problems. Why is she not manipulated before the other scientists are being as involved as she is in the project?
I found shocking that semi-nude erotic scenes were easily shown, and then, you see the giant humans at the end as they do not even have a hint of genitalia! How awkward! My dreams show humans with all their bits!
The Bad
The most important down, to me, is the dubbing of the characters, both in English and in Japanese - Very dull in the first, just dull in the second. The actors seem to be reciting a text they were reading to themselves in a boring rainy afternoon...acting is a very different thing. That affects the tone and energy of the movie. If you have an action/thriller scene and the actors speak as if they were talking to their old grandma, there is a problem. Also, the lack o inflection in the talking of some characters makes those characters plain, especially in the case of Dr Atsuko. I also got annoyed at the voice of Paprika being so silly and childish, especially in Japanese.
The second down is that the scientific details of the "DC mini" are explained in a very complicated way, while a simpler approach would have made those bits less boring. They are realistic, as scientists speak like that, but this is not a documentary but an animation movie in which you don't need real mumbo-jumbo to make sense.
The Interesting
The references to some well known Hollywood and Japanese movies, both in posters and the "sweding" or recreation of some scenes in the dreams. However, the most intriguing reference to me is the mention of the short animation film of the 1940s "Dream Kids". I don't know if Paprika (the original novel on which the script is based) has a connection of any sort with that movie or not.
Truly trippy and enjoyable. Unforgettable oniric scenes.
