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Among currently producing animation studios, there is none so good at what they do as Studio Ghibli. Producing films since 1984, they maintain the place in the animation world that Disney held in '40s and '50s. In fact, nobody even comes close in terms of consistently producing amazing works of importance and integrity. In this special edition of Capsule Reviews, I'll look at all of Ghibli's feature films (save for Tales from Earthsea, which due to Scifi Channel holding the rights cannot be released in the US until 2009). We'll list these chronologically, beginning in 1984.
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Year: 1984
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Runtime: 116 min.
Nausicaä was the film that started Ghibli and many of the motifs that would later mark Ghibli films are introduced here. Environmentalism (later revisited in Only Yesterday, Pom Poko and Princess Mononoke) and anti-war sentiment (revisitied in Castle in the Sky, Grave of the Fireflies, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, and Howl's Moving Castle) both find a prominent place in Nausicaä's themes. As well, this begins Ghibli's durable tradition of strong and independent female protagonists.
This is a tale set in a post-apocalyptic future. Centuries prior, the earth had been destroyed in seven days of fire as humanity's technology for killing had grown beyond its ability to control. Now with the world poisoned and the earth gradually cleansing itself through its flora, mankind (as per usual) finds itself at odds both with its environment and with itself. Nausicaä tells the story of a world-conscious young princess named (ta-da!) Nausicaä as she tries to bring peace, love, and understanding to a world that threatens to destroy itself again.
The animation feels a bit dated (though the technique for animating the giant ohmu is impressive) and the story a bit brisk, but it's a good film and a great start for what would become the premiere animation studio of the age.
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note: I highly recommend the book version of the story as Miyazaki had only finished the first quarter of the story when he released the movie. The book took more than ten years to finish and has the kind of epic quality that is missing from the movie.
Year: 1986
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Runtime: 124 min.
When a girl named Sheeta falls from the sky bearing a strange stone, Pazu begins an adventure that will take him under ground and over cloud, eventually bringing him face to face with the legacy of his dead father and a discovery straight out of myth and legend. Floating cities, air pirates, royalty-in-disguise, robots bent on killing all, humanity on the verge of apocalypse, and a pair of intrepid heroes populate the background of this story of adventure and hope.
Unfortunately while Laputa contains several breathtaking scenes and edge-of-seat moments, it is also overlong and tends to flag at times. Miyazaki also uses a device that has always been unpalatable to me and crops up again in several of his films (most notably and to greatest deficit in Porco Rosso), and that is his rendering of comedic characters in a more cartoonish style than the average character. Such representations strike me as out of place and always serve to remove me from the story. Still, that said, while Laputa is certainly not Miyazaki's best effort, it is worth watching.
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note: I always recommend watching these films in their original language and opting to use the subtitles, but I understand how it can be. You get home from work. You're exhausted. The last thing you want to do is read a movie. In such cases even I, being the purist I am, will sometimes give the dubbed English version a shot. DO NOT do this with Laputa. Within minutes (if not immediately) James Van Der Beek will cause your ears to bleed and your lungs to ulcer. The English voice-casting director ought to return to hat-making. Listening to the English dub is like buttering your jam with your tears.
Year: 1988
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Runtime: 86 min.
Totoro, for a long time, was Miyazaki's most famous creation and is still perhaps his most iconic.
The film follows two young girls, Satsuke (11) and Mei (4), as they and their father spend their first days in their new house in the countryside. Their mother is sequestered in a hospital in the city as her health fails due to some undisclosed (to the children and to the viewer) illness. Against this backdrop, Miyazaki plays out a tender story exploring both the wonder and terror of childhood as the girls cope with the fact of their ailing mother and become acquainted with the tree spirits who occasionally haunt their property.
The film is endearing and the scenes featuring the spirit creatures are indelible (especially those with the large Totoro and the catbus).
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Year: 1988
Director: Isao Takahata
Runtime: 88 min.
Grave of the Fireflies is one of those hurtful movies that probably everybody should watch on occasion. It's right up there with Schindler's List in its portrayal of the tragedy of humanity. Takahata's first Ghibli film should be required viewing every time our nation feels the need to go to war—so that we might better judge the necessity of our actions against the plain cost we will incur.
Grave of the Fireflies is a story of children and war. It begins with the male protagonist narrating, "September 21, 1945. That was the night I died." And then we watch as he passes into death from weakness and hunger. Then we flash back to a healthier time and watch his story unfold.
It is hard to watch, but really very good. I hope to never see it again. Which means it's probably about time I did.
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Year: 1989
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Runtime: 102 min.
Kiki's story is like an expansion of The Little Engine Who Could. Kiki is a vaguely talented young witch who has reached the age at which she is expected to go out into the world and find a town to serve in as Town Witch. She and her little black cat Jiji eventually find a place to serve but as Kiki is not the most powerful of witches, she is not certain how it is that she can work for the good of the town. Until she strikes upon the idea of running a delivery service, taking parcels here and there on her broom.
It's all pretty standard. She has her ups and downs. Doubts her place. Mopes a bit. Then saves the day. Kinda like a typical Spider-Man story.
But the joy of the story is not found in the pieces. Like all Miyazaki's films, Kiki's Delivery Service delivers a sense of wonder and joie de vivre that exists independent of its particulars. This is an entirely human film. Plus, kids seem to love it.
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Year: 1991
Director: Isao Takahata
Runtime: 118 min.
Only Yesterday is my favourite of Isao Takahata's Ghibli productions. It could very well fall under the category of "chick-flick," but it's so good that one shouldn't worry about taxonomy.
This is the story of twenty-seven-year-old Taeko as she takes a break from her life to visit the countryside. Taeko finds herself at a crossroads, not knowing where her life should take her. Or where she should take her life. This recalls for her the last time she felt such confusion for life, as she endured the fifth grade, on the cusp of puberty.
As the story progresses and Taeko gradually builds toward making a decision for her life, we are treated with numerous vignettes of her childhood in 1966 Japan. The story is treated delicately and with affection and for a long time it may even be hard to discern that there is a story to the film at all. There is. And it is only resolved while the credits roll.
And it causes me to smile every time.
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Year: 1992
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Runtime: 93 min.
Porco Rosso would probably be my favourite Ghibli feature if it weren't for the problem I mentioned with Laputa in which characters present for their comedic impact are drawn in a far more cartoonish manner. As in Laputa, the air pirate gangs that fill the air over the Mediterranean here are silly-looking and it takes me out of the story. The climax is also drawn with such comedic intent.
Aside from that, Porco Rosso is a gorgeous film. The seascapes are beautifully painted and the story carries such a warm sentimentality that it's hard not to bask in Porco's nobility—when he's not being crass. The film is fascinating in that the hero, having flown with honour for Italy during the war, has become nauseated by humanity and the human endeavor and has thrown off the skin of that disgusting animal for that of a far more noble creature: a pig. Porco has cast off his allegiance to any nation and now trolls the Mediterranean as a bounty hunter, so that he might subsidize his life off solitude in a lonely cove.
It really is a marvelous exploration of individual identity vs. national identity—made all the more striking when one considers the highly nationalistic nature of Miyazaki's own country.
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Year: 1993
Director: Tomomi Mochizuki
Runtime: 72 min.
This was a simple story, filmed for television, masquerading as a love-triangle—but it's really just a great little coming of age tale. I don't really have much to say save for that I've seen this three or four times now and I always find it enjoyable. There are no fantasy elements and it could probably be as easily told via live-action filming, but it wasn't and it may be more poignant for that fact.
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Year: 1994
Director: Isao Takahata
Runtime: 118 min.
This is probably my least favourite of the Ghibli oeuvre. It's a documentary-style presentation of how the encroaching civilation of man affects the wildlife that used to live where there are now suburban developments. It's kind of what I imagine Over the Hedge would have been like if the raccoon had enormous magical testicles.
No really.
The principle characters of the film are a group of tanuki, a raccoon-like dog-beast native to Japan and notable for their tremendous nutsacks. And throughout the movie, these tanuki use their scrotum for a hilariously diverse set of tasks. Parachute canopies to slow their fall. Large picnic-like blankets. One even sets his to form a large ship that they might sail away to safety and new fortune.
I know. It sounds like the RADDEST MOVIE EVER. Maybe it was. Maybe the subtitling on my peculiar copy was so poor that the movie seemed boring. Because really, that's how it felt. Dry. Overlong. Unexciting. Granted, it's probably still worth a rental so that you and your family can enjoy a good healthy dose of tanuki balls.
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note: here's a popular commercial featuring a tanuki that was going around for awhile. Uh, it's NSFW I guess. It's more funny than offensive, but you never know...
Year: 1995
Director: Yoshifumi Kondo
Runtime: 111 min.
Whisper of the Heart is probably the most adorable of all the Ghibli productions. It is in almost constant battle with Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke in contention for my Top Spot as Best Ghibli Film. While Miyazaki did not direct, he was heavily involved in scripting and production, so I guess you can see his hand. Or else Kondo just rocks. Er, rocked. He was being groomed to take over Ghibli, but he died suddenly right after completing Whisper of the Heart.
This is the story of a fifteen-year-old girl who loves fantasy and faery tales more than life. When she meets a kid who crafts violins, they inspire each other to be the best people in the world, so she determines to write a novel over the next month or two. I won't say anymore except to say: "High-five Ghibli!"
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Year: 1997
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Runtime: 133 min.
This is the first Miyazaki film I ever saw. It was a revelation to me. Like most of you, I grew up on "quality animation" being synonymous with Disney. I don't know what I expected. I had seen Akira so i had some taste for Japanese animation, but the sheer attention to detail on show here was awestriking. Visually, Princess Mononoke may actually be the most impressive Ghibli film of all.
And it's not just in the broad strokes either, but in the little things as well. A scene in which a rock is pebbled with a light rain until it is soaked to wetness. Beams of light piercing as shafts through storm clouds and wind breezing across fields as the grasses flutter against its waves. The dappling of sunlight as Ashitaka rides through the forest. These were details that would not even be considered in the American animation style. Animation was not dead as I had been led to believe. It was just overseas.
Princess Mononoke is thoroughly adventurous and action oriented, but it has its soft, thoughtful side as well. For every arm that Ashitaka lops off, there is a scene of quiet reflection and care for the world or the forest or humanity itself. I walked out of the theater in August 1999 changed. And not every film can boast that kind of accomplishment.
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Year: 1999
Director: Isao Takahata
Runtime: 104 min.
Less a narrative direction and more just a series of vignettes, My Neighbors the Yamadas is good or mediocre depending entirely on which vignette is playing at a given time. Some of the short stories are funny and inspired, others are less interesting and function more as time-fillers than anything else. More than anything though, My Neighbors the Yamadas offers a sketch of one brand of contemporary Japanese family life.
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Year: 2001
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Runtime: 124 min.
By the time Spirited Away was released to theaters, I had seen a number of Ghibli's films and so was well-prepared for a cinematic treat. Still, I wasn't prepared for the harmonious cacophony of creatures and sights that filled the screen during the bulk of the film. I feel like I've been gushing about Ghibli's product so I don't want to do that here.
But I can't help myself.
If you've never seen a Ghibli film, not knowing you or your tastes, I would probably recommend Spirited Away as the place to start. It's possible that you won't like it, but that would mean you had no soul—and so, not liking a movie I recommended would be the least of your concerns.
Spirited Away, as I've described before, is kinda like Alice in Wonderland hopped up on meth. It tells the story of Chihiro, a little girl who becomes lost in a world of gods and spirits as she works in a mystical bathhouse hoping that she can rescue her parents who have been captured according to their greed. There's witches, dragons, bodiless heads, giant babies, sludge monsters, and giant hopping chicks. There may be other things you'd want from a movie, but I can't think what.
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Year: 2002
Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Runtime: 75 min.
This was a slight, enjoyable film. The animation was perhaps a small step down from typical Ghibli, but it was a fun story. It also functions as something of an off-shoot of Whisper of the Heart bringing back both Muto the cat and the Baron figurine and breathing new life into each. Worth a rental.
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Year: 2004
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Runtime: 118 min.
Howl's Moving Castle was adapted from, I guess, a British children's book. I don't care to read the book. I was perfectly satisfied with Miyazaki's presentation and can consider myself sated.
I was actually surprised that I found the story as compelling as I did. Miyazaki typically uses the young as his protagonists, and though the hero started as a young woman, she spends the majority of the film as a tubby old lady, bent over with age. Like Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle presents an explosion of visual imagery, most notably in scenes within the titular moving castle itself. This film is the best kind of fantasy and I can't wait to see it again. And probably again.
And again.
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