Ah, Hayao Miyazaki. The reigning champion of Japanese animation, and probably one of the finest storytellers in the world, Hayao Miyazaki is and always has been amongst my favorite animators. I've slowly made my way through his filmography, and have taken the opportunity to watch some of his older films--one I haven't seen since the wee twilight days of my childhood, and a classic I'd never seen at all. So, let's waste no more time and dive into the double-review!
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My Neighbor Totoro is a strange movie. Chock full of nostalgia for an era I've never experienced, with a soft, optimistic view on childhood innocence and the pursuit of imagination, dreams and spirituality, My Neighbor Totoro is very different from children's movies today. Despite--or maybe because of--this, My Neighbor Totoro is like a blast of fresh air, a heartwarming, simplistic and very endearing story that manages to combine child-like innocence with gorgeous visuals and an excellent soundtrack.
Totoro is the story of two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, who along with their scatterminded, professor father have moved out to the country to settle in an ancient, run-down, possibly haunted house. They never explicitly state why they are moving, but it has something do to with their mother, who is hospitalized with a potentially deadly disease, which is also never fully explained.
As Satsuki and Mei explore their new house, we see just how exciting, grand and scary an old house can be to an 8-and-4-year-old. And this house isn't the same as most houses--strange shapes shift in dark places, acorns drop out of the ceiling, and the whole house creaks and sways in seasonal storms. Neighbors warn that the house may be haunted, which tickles the girls pink. As the littlest girl, Mei, explores the sprawling ground, she discovers a strange tunnel that leads to the base of an enormous camphor tree--inside of which she discovers a secret grotto wherein sleeps the titular Totoro.
Totoro is 2/3s adorable and 1/3 terrifying. A simply gargantuan tanuki creature--kind of like a magic racoon--Totoro is named by Mei based off some children's book she has about trolls. Totoro isn't a troll, but rather a forest spirit who inhabits the tree and spreads seeds across the land to grow more trees. He and Mei bond, somehow, and eventually Satsuki meets him as well, setting into motion the film's magical elements and leading to its heartrending climax.
Like every Miyazaki movie, this film looks amazing. Post-war Japan is vividly portrayed as a land in flux, where the old world and the new world are meeting, but not mixing. Old shrines dot the roadside, and the people give thanks and reverence to old gods who have since-been forgotten. Looking at modern Japan and then watching this movie only serves to accentuate the dichotomy. The world of Totoro resembles nothing of what we have come to imagine the Land of the Rising Sun to be, and in a way it pines for this old world, of spirits and ghosts and childlike wonder.
It is a good movie, though it hasn't aged that well. Some of the childish antics of the protagonists can be grating to an older viewer, the animation isn't as crisp or clean as modern animated films, and the minimalistic, low-key pacing of the story could bore our ADD, internet-obsessed children of today. Still, this movie has one of the most realistic depictions of young children I've ever seen in an animated feature, and it takes great care to illustrate just how terrifying and awe-inspiring the world can seem from the eyes of a small child. It teaches us to slow down, to appreciate what we have, to dream and wonder and not lose our imaginations. It shows us that we should respect the past, be it in the form of an old house, a giant tree, or the loveable old granny down the lane.
That's not a bad lesson, if you ask me. Now, if you excuse me, I've got to slam my head into my desk until I get that damned catchy theme song out of my head. Here it is in more manageable Japanese, rather than the dreadful English version the movie comes with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcaTKIpLpkU
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My Neighbor Totoro is a strange movie. Chock full of nostalgia for an era I've never experienced, with a soft, optimistic view on childhood innocence and the pursuit of imagination, dreams and spirituality, My Neighbor Totoro is very different from children's movies today. Despite--or maybe because of--this, My Neighbor Totoro is like a blast of fresh air, a heartwarming, simplistic and very endearing story that manages to combine child-like innocence with gorgeous visuals and an excellent soundtrack.
Totoro is the story of two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, who along with their scatterminded, professor father have moved out to the country to settle in an ancient, run-down, possibly haunted house. They never explicitly state why they are moving, but it has something do to with their mother, who is hospitalized with a potentially deadly disease, which is also never fully explained.
As Satsuki and Mei explore their new house, we see just how exciting, grand and scary an old house can be to an 8-and-4-year-old. And this house isn't the same as most houses--strange shapes shift in dark places, acorns drop out of the ceiling, and the whole house creaks and sways in seasonal storms. Neighbors warn that the house may be haunted, which tickles the girls pink. As the littlest girl, Mei, explores the sprawling ground, she discovers a strange tunnel that leads to the base of an enormous camphor tree--inside of which she discovers a secret grotto wherein sleeps the titular Totoro.
Totoro is 2/3s adorable and 1/3 terrifying. A simply gargantuan tanuki creature--kind of like a magic racoon--Totoro is named by Mei based off some children's book she has about trolls. Totoro isn't a troll, but rather a forest spirit who inhabits the tree and spreads seeds across the land to grow more trees. He and Mei bond, somehow, and eventually Satsuki meets him as well, setting into motion the film's magical elements and leading to its heartrending climax.
Like every Miyazaki movie, this film looks amazing. Post-war Japan is vividly portrayed as a land in flux, where the old world and the new world are meeting, but not mixing. Old shrines dot the roadside, and the people give thanks and reverence to old gods who have since-been forgotten. Looking at modern Japan and then watching this movie only serves to accentuate the dichotomy. The world of Totoro resembles nothing of what we have come to imagine the Land of the Rising Sun to be, and in a way it pines for this old world, of spirits and ghosts and childlike wonder.
It is a good movie, though it hasn't aged that well. Some of the childish antics of the protagonists can be grating to an older viewer, the animation isn't as crisp or clean as modern animated films, and the minimalistic, low-key pacing of the story could bore our ADD, internet-obsessed children of today. Still, this movie has one of the most realistic depictions of young children I've ever seen in an animated feature, and it takes great care to illustrate just how terrifying and awe-inspiring the world can seem from the eyes of a small child. It teaches us to slow down, to appreciate what we have, to dream and wonder and not lose our imaginations. It shows us that we should respect the past, be it in the form of an old house, a giant tree, or the loveable old granny down the lane.
That's not a bad lesson, if you ask me. Now, if you excuse me, I've got to slam my head into my desk until I get that damned catchy theme song out of my head. Here it is in more manageable Japanese, rather than the dreadful English version the movie comes with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcaTKIpLpkU
