Netflix And Chill: Arrietty (2010)

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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Japanuary: Your Name (2016)

Written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, Your Name is another animated film that works best when really nailing down the feelings that can overwhelm you during your teenage years. Unfortunately, there are one or two plot elements that stop it from coming together as well as it should, but that doesn't stop it from being another excellent slice of animation for fans of Japanese cinema.

Mitsuha Miyamizu lives in the small town of Itomori in Japan. Taki Tachibana lives in Tokyo. For reasons that are never really explained, and no concrete explanation is necessary, the two start switching bodies. This causes some confusion, of course, but it soon becomes clear that both of these individuals can bring out the best in one another, with Taki helping Mitsuha to become more popular with schoolfriends and Mitsuha helping Taki get a date with Miki Okudera, a young woman who works with him at his part-time job. Putting a system in place, involving notes written on paper and in their phones, the two start to work well together, but it becomes increasingly frustrating to live in such harmony with someone else you haven't met. As the two try to make a real meeting happen, some more details come to light that make things even more frustrating.

There's a good voice cast here. Ryûnosuke Kamiki and Mone Kamishiraishi do well in the roles of Taki and Mitsuha, respectively, Masami Nagasawa is very good as Ms. Okudera, and there are solid supporting turns from Etsuko Ichihara, Ryô Narita, Aoi Yûki, Nobunaga Shimazakim, Kaito Ishikawa, and Kanon Tani, all portraying friends or family members. Everyone is suited to their character.

Aside from those vocal performances, which are straightforward enough, Your Name is an interesting film for a number of reasons. It's not the best Japanese animation you could choose, in any regard. The script has one or two big plot holes in there, as is often the way with any tale that moves the pieces around in the way that this one does, there are some horrible song lyrics popping up all too frequently to underscore a number of big scenes, and even the look and movement of the animation isn't up there with the best. It's still nice to look at, you just have to bear in mind that there's a very high standard when measuring any Japanese animation against the best of their output.

The other main reason for this being so interesting is the way in which it takes such a fantastical premise, adds even more to it, and uses the whole thing to ground the main ideas of navigating some turbulent teenage times and perhaps finding someone who brings out the best in you. Mitsuha and Taki seem to be two parts of a whole person, both literally and metaphorically, and their strange bond leads to them eventually considering that they might work just as well together while inhabiting their own bodies.

Shinkai does a good enough job with everything to almost distract you from the minor failings, but the third act goes on for just a little bit too long, giving you enough thinking time to go over everything that just happened and wonder how it all worked out. Still, good on him for tying together a number of different threads and making something that manages to slide so smoothly through a number of different subgenres.

7/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.