An animated take on The Borrowes from Studio Ghibli, Arrietty (also known as The Secret World Of Arrietty) is, as you might have guessed already, yet ANOTHER film I had meant to see quite a few years ago. Why wouldn't I be interested in it? I love both The Borrowers and Studio Ghibli, so it seemed like a wonderful marriage.
Arrietty is the youngest member of the Clock family, tiny people living in the home of normal-sized humans. They survive by going on occasional quests to "borrow" what they need from the house before returning to their own living space, tucked away under the floorboards. Borrowers shouldn't be seen by humans, that's a pretty good rule to live by, but Arrietty ends up contemplating the idea of a friendship with Shô, a teenage boy who has arrived at the house to rest up before he is due to undergo heart surgery. Things soon become dangerous for Arrietty and her family, and it's harder for them to continue living their lives in secret, which means that it soon becomes time to see whether Shô will end up helping or hindering them.
The first film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who followed this up with the wonderful When Marnie Was There, this is the kind of thing that Studio Ghibli does so well. It takes some fantastical elements, grounds everything in a world that throws some very real problems at the main characters, and allows the animation team to impress everyone with visuals that are as beautiful and delicate as any other work of fine art you might choose to enjoy. Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa are responsible for the screenplay, adapting the Mary Norton novel (and, sadly, I cannot say how close to, or far from, the source material it is), and they know exactly what they're doing when it comes to balancing out the magical realism and the tension, with Miyazaki already having plenty of experience on many of his own directorial outings.
Although I am very often firmly against such choices, Arrietty, like many Studio Ghibli movies, is available in multiple versions. I still prefer to go for the Japanese audio, to hear the original cast members in their roles, but those opting for the dubbed version could, depending on their choice/territory, hear the likes of Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, and Carol Burnett, or Saoirse Ronan, Tom Holland, Olivia Colman, and Mark Strong, among others. I enjoyed the work of Mirai Shida (in the main role), Ryûnosuke Kamiki (as Shô), Tomokazu Miura and Shinobu Ôtake (as the parents of our lead), as well as Keiko Takeshita and Kirin Kiki. I'm not going to pretend that I keep these names filed in my brain when viewing various Japanese movies, but they may well be people I have ecnountered before, considering the lengths of their respective filmographies, and it's the least I can do to namecheck them here for their valuable contribution to the film.
There's no denying that Studio Ghibli movies are all about the artistry though, and this aims for the high standard that they are known for. It may not be quite as inventive or stunning as a number of more magical titles I could mention, but it's a treat for the eyes, and as well-realised and fluidly animated as the best of them. I loved it, and it even made me nostalgic for the other feature film version of this material that I have vague memories of. I hope that most people will agree with me, but especially those seeking out a suitable family viewing choice. In fact, you need to be putting all of the Studio Ghibli movies in steady rotation if you have any younger film viewers in your household.
9/10
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