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Studio Ghibli's latest, directed by Goro Miyazaki, which debuted at the Japanese box office at #3, up against the same opening weekend as the final Harry Potter, it wasn't expected to be #1, but losing 2nd place to the latest Pokemon double film was a huge upset.

But even with the bad opening, and the disappointing "Tales From Earthsea", I think "From Up On Poppy Hill" definitely will be remembered more in the long run. I liked it a lot. It was much better than I was even expecting.

The movie being set in 1963, a non-fantasy Ghibli film (it's been a while), screenplay written by daddy Hayao Miyazaki, the movie has a touch of Ozu (about family relationships), and Imamura or Oshima (student protests, the views from the younger generation) than other Ghibli movies. To say, it doesn't really feel like any of their movies, but partially inspired by the times.

Some critics have said that the story was a little predictable, and some questioned why this wasn't made as a live action movie instead, as it could have easily been done.

It's still really worth a look. The movie is about the characters and their relationships, the trouble to discover the truth of their backstories, and about people remembering and knowing about the past. It's a good 'sister film' to "Only Yesterday".

manicsounds wrote:some questioned why this wasn't made as a live action movie instead, as it could have easily been done.

I will never understand this line of criticism.

Me neither.

I'm certainly looking forward to it. To be honest, I'm not a fan of any of their 21th century films (I still haven't seen Arrietty, and I certainly haven't played the video game they made) but it looks more something like Whisper of the Heart or Only Yesterday.

manicsounds wrote:Some critics have questioned why this wasn't made as a live action movie instead, as it could have easily been done.

I initially have the same thought while watching the movie but watching it, it occurred to me that in order to completely replicate the look and feel of the town in 1963 (not to mention Tokyo during their brief sojourn there) would have been very expensive and probably very limiting in live action. Animation allows the unfettered recreation of the period right down to minuscule details and Miyazaki makes brilliant use of this, with brand packaging, books, posters, etc. exact recreations of those available at the time. I believe this must have been the attraction to Miyazaki of the format.

Regarding the story; certainly it is simple and largely predictable but I think Miyazaki is far more interesting in the period, creating the atmosphere of the environment through sound and visuals, than with the characters and their story. So I think a relatively simple story actually suits his style of directing far better than, for example, Tales of Earthsea did, as there was far to much story to get through and his relative lack of interest in narrative rendered the film beautiful but largely incomprehensible to anyone who had not read the books.

For me, this film was far more successful and definitely a film I would like teenagers to see (It's certainly aimed at an older audience than Ponyo, for example). The motivated and idealistic outlook of Japanese young people in the early 60s, before the disillusionment failed late-60s/early-70s student protests, it something sadly missing in many young people today who feel they have no power and are therefor uninterested in trying to affect political change. In that way the film would provide a potent double-bill with this year's "My Back Page" (rather than with any other Ghibli film), which examines the disillusionment these same young people (those who were in school in '63), were feeling by the end of the decade.

Sorry for putting this in this thread, but how IS "My Back Pages"? I'm a huge Yamashita fan and have been excited to see it.

This looks interesting. I like animated dramas - "Only Yesterday" in particular showed that animation can be a great way to add simple, unshowy effects to a story, effects that would nevertheless not be possible in a live-action film.

Caught this at TIFF (along with Letter to Momo).

This is quite an interesting film, in that there's a lot more going on here than many critics would seem to believe. I disagree with the idea that this is a simple story, as a matter of fact, there's actually about 3 narratives going on at the same time here, and they get quite tangled up with each other. Just because the setting is localized and it doesn't involve World Changing Events, doesn't mean this isn't still fairly complex in its own localized world. As with Earthsea, Goro's focus sometimes wavers--he'll pick up a narrative thread, drop it, and them move on to another thread seemingly at random.

But it works for this film. You get the sense of a real world going on outside of the two leads, and so the other narratives sort of grow organically out of the world building. Many of the "extras" are distinct individuals and you sort of get the sense that while they provide support for the leads as plot devices at times, they have their own lives, feelings and instincts too.

It's also a fairly bold film.

Spoiler

As Umi and Shun grapple with the seeming revelation that they are brother and sister, there's a scene before the Oh So They're Not Related After All So It's All Good discovery, where Umi says that she loves him, and won't apologize for it, even if they're related. And it's very clear she doesn't mean love "as a brother." And I could hear the whole theatre shuffle in their seats. It was a great moment, and a point where I felt that Ghibli suddenly was in uncharted territory. Naturally, everything works out in the end, but the point is, she made it quite clear she would be willing to tread taboo territory--much like Dixon Steele in A Lonely Place, it doesn't matter that she didn't do it, the point is the *intent* was there and she WOULD have done it. But what makes it work is that it's truthful and consistent. When Umi first discovers that Shun MAY be her brother, she doesn't act like a typical Ghibli heroine and go spazzing out. She smiles awkwardly and says, "What should we do?" The audience laughed at that, but the funny thing is that line planted the seeds for the later scene. In fact, one of the admirable things about this film is that Umi and Shun are two intelligent, nuanced leads who have an idea of what they want, without making speeches about it. It may even be said that in terms of behaviour, they're the most mature leads in a Ghibli film since Taeko in Only Yesterday.

Also interesting were some of the reactions by critics and audiences to the film. There were of course the usual "why wasn't this live actioned" people, which we can safely ignore. But more interesting were those, presumably weaned on Fantasy Ghibli, who said they expected "bigger" set pieces and more "imagination". And I think this kind of attitude is exactly the reason why animation has a hard time being taken more seriously. If a cartoon doesn't fit the mold of a BIG and EPIC "cartoony" film, then they're disappointed. Epic. God, I'm beginning to get tired of that word.

There's also the usual bristling against girly, romantically-inclined films. As if more "girly" films are somehow always at a lower level than even films about men who dress up in tights to punch out bad guys.

Don't get me wrong, this film does have its flaws. Miyazaki's tendency to get distracted remains true here, but this film was tailor made to compensate for that tendency. I think if the three narratives were tightened up a bit more to connect more seamlessly, then it would have been an excellent film.

As it stands, I think it's better than Ocean Waves, The Cat Returns, and Howl's Moving Castle. On the whole, I think it's close to ranking near the middle of Ghibli's output. And I liked it better than Mamoru Hosoda's two films thus far, to be honest. An encouraging sophomore effort.

See, here is where the translation gets complicated.

In English, there's the word, "Love", which can be used for a relationship between 2 people, for family, or other things like "I love ice cream", "I love that movie", trivial things.

In Japanese, there's "Ai", "Koi", and "Suki"

"Ai" is used for love between people: couples mostly. family too, but it's rarely said.

"Koi" is used for a romantic relationship

"Suki" is used like the English word for "Love", or "Like". It can be for a relationship between 2 people (usually non-romantic, or just a teenage crush for example), also for things like ice cream, or a movie, etc.

So it may cause different reactions when subtitled to English.

Spoiler

Umi says she loves him in the English version, but she says 'suki' in Japanese, which means "really like", and being teens, it is considered a possible crush, but mostly admiration. so it seems more like possible incest in the English, is completely not in the Japanese. People in theaters here were tearing up when she said that. I know I did!

By the way, this movie is the sleeper Ghibli hit in Japan. It's consistently making money week by week, and it's made about the same money as "Transformers 3" here, but still a fraction of the past Ghibli releases.

If one wanted to unambiguaously express romantic love, I supsect the verb "aishiteru" (ai shiteiru) would get used.

I believe the word "ai" means "love" in Mandarin as well.

But considering their relationship up to that point, wouldn't her saying "really like" still mean that she's still interested in him romantically? Or even as you said, as a "crush", which is still romantically. I find it hard to believe that she would, after much angst leading up to that point, pronounce something like "I like you...like I like ice cream!" I suspect people might tear up at it because of the tragedy of the situation at that point, and it being ironically her first verbal acknowledgement of her bond with him.

My expertise in Japanese is not on the level of you guys, but in every Japanese romance I've seen, I've hear them use "suki" when expressing romantic interest for someone. Which is, as you said, probably a way of saying "I like you" to someone you have a romantic interest in but not yet "love". Someone you like but may not know extremely well yet.

Besides, why are you trying to make it less bold in my eyes??

U.S. distribution deal announced, get ready for more waiting

GKIDS, a distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences, announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Japan's renowned Studio Ghibli for North American rights to the studio's newest release, FROM UP ON POPPY HILL (Kokuriko-zaka kara). GKIDS is handling theatrical, home video, television and VOD rights and will qualify the film for the Academy Awards® in the Best Animated Feature category. Theatrical release is planned for March 2013.

Not surprising that Disney passed on it, which is vastly preferable to sitting on it Only Yesterday-style. GKIDS doesn't have a home video arm, so presumably someone else will be handling the DVD/BD.

Seems like Disney and Ghibli have been on shaky ground for the last few years, apparently their relationship was even on the verge of collapse. Whatever people have always thought of Disney, they seem to be in much worse condition now vis-a-vis brand protection than they were six years ago (right around the time of the corporate restructuring and when they really began pushing Disney Channel product - the "Hannah Montana Era.") Back then they were aware of the prestige and goodwill they got from distributing Ghibli films, now it's just an afterthought.

GKids look like a good company, interested in animation as a whole - the kind of people I want handling these films.

GKids has a deal with New Video, which released the excellent disc of "The Secret Of Kells".
GKids said they also have the home video rights. I just don't get why the US release of Ghibli films take so damn long! Like "Arrietty", it would be a full year and a half after the Japanese theatrical release. It doesn't take that long to dub a movie!

There's probably a lot of legal rights involved with getting these films released in North America, because Ghibli's a small company. Movies from big companies can simply release it themselves internationally on sheer bank power.

Maybe GKids can get the U.S. home video rights to Only Yesterday whenever Ghibli decides to Blu-ray it.

Ghibli's had a deal with Disney/Buena Vista for international rights (US and other countries) for 15 years or so. It's a bad excuse to release them so late.

O ye of little faith. The wait's going to be worth it, I promise. There are a lot of boring reasons these releases in particular take so long to turn around, but the Japanese Bluray/DVD just came out in the past week or so, so there's already a lot of time built in there.