I believe I have seen most of Hayao Miyazaki's animated movies. He is a Japanese film director, producer and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, a film and animation studio. He directed multiple films with Ghibli, including Castle in the Sky in 1986, My Neighbor Totoro in 1988, Kiki's Delivery Service in 1989, and Porco Rosso in 1992. The films were met with commercial and critical success in Japan. Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke was the first animated film that won the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year. His 2001 film Spirited Away became the highest-grossing film in Japanese history and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Miyazaki's later films, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, and The Wind Rises, also enjoyed critical and commercial success.
There is something special and magical about Miyazaki's films which made me watch some of them even several times. The main characters are usually children or teenagers who through amazing adventures shape their personalities. Haru from The Cat Returns who's uncertainty almost led her to a marriage with a cat, learns how to be assertive. Sophie from Howl's moving castle, who was transformed into an old lady by the Witch of the Waste, founds strength in herself to break the spell and change her life. Chihiro from Spirited Away through hard work in the bathhouse for spirits saves her parents who had been transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba.
One of my favourite films by Miyazaki is My Neighbor Totoro. The film is about two little girls, Satsuki and her younger sister Mei, who move with their father into an old house in the countryside to be closer to the hospital where the girls' mother is recovering from a long-term illness. Satsuki and Mei find that the house is inhabited by tiny creatures called susuwatari - small, dark, dust-like house spirits seen when moving from light to dark places. When the girls become comfortable in their new house, the soot spirits leave it to look for a more quiet place.
One day, Mei sees a white, rabbit-like creature in the grass and follows it under the house. There she discovers another small spirit. They lead her into the hollow of a large camphor tree. She meets and befriends a larger version of the same kind of spirit, which identifies itself by a series of roars that she interprets as "Totoro".
Satsuki and Mai meet Totoro and the two little spirits a few more times. Totoro helps to grow seeds that he gave them in return for an umbrella that Satsuki gave him during the rain. Another day the girls find out that a planned visit by their mother has to be postponed because of a setback in her treatment. Satsuki, disappointed and worried, tells Mei the bad news, which Mei does not take well. The little girl decides to walk to the hospital but loses her way. Satsuki returns in desperation to the camphor tree and pleads for Totoro's help. Delighted to be of assistance, he summons the Catbus, which carries her directly to Mei.
 |
| Kiki's Delivery Service |
 |
| Spirited Away |
 |
| My Neighbor Totoro |
 |
| My Neighbor Totoro |
 |
| My Neighbor Totoro |
Brak komentarzy:
Prześlij komentarz