Studio Ghibli Retrospective 2

Part 1

IV. Castle in the Sky

This is one of the first movies from the studio that I watched, and it blew me away from the get-go. It’s weird, because I had every reason to hate it: it’s silly. The drama’s weirdly-blended with comedic moments. The characters are archetypes. The tone pays homage to Star Wars and Indiana Jones, those goofy serials you kinda wish were made more now, yet understand why they were phased out. Even the story, which pays tribute to Jules Verne and Jonathan Swift, seems a quintessentially-80’s action movie. Being that I didn’t grow up in the 80’s, hence I have no attachment to the decade, I was amazed at how drawn into the experience I was.

I think part of it’s Hayao Miyazaki’s ability to drive home any kind of film. Like a hybrid of Spielberg’s sentimentality and Disney’s whimsy, Miyazaki can capture his audience and hold them tight. In the case of Castle in the Sky, there’s a youthfulness that makes this experience feel timeless. It’s the kind of film that could never be made by Miyazaki today, he’s way too jaded now, but any freshman would kill to make a movie half as good.

The story itself is, arguably, nothing special. It’s a “race to the __” film, a standard MacGuffin chase. We know where it’ll end, but it’s the destination that counts. Even plot-holes like “How could no one believe Pazu’s late father about Laputa when he photographed it?” become secondary to “Who really cares?” Because, let’s be honest, who really cares?

What matters are the characters. Pazu and Sheeta are standard, pre-teen wide-eyes, but their energy and optimism drive home what would’ve been an otherwise uninteresting pairing. The Dola Gang are as funny and entertaining as the hyenas from The Lion King, and they’ll definitely keep kids and adults entertained. But my favourite character’s Colonel Muska, the film’s villain and only other Miyazaki antagonist (outside of Count Cagliostro) to actually be played up as all slime. He’s straight out of a Bond movie, with his calm demeanour, condescending attitude, sophistication and, yes, villainous cackle.

It helps that the action sequences are equally spectacular. My favourite is in the fortress, where a resurrected robot runs amuck, destroying everything, in an attempt to rescue Sheeta. It’s fun, it’s suspenseful, but it’s also incredibly melancholic. It even ends on a bittersweet note. That’s not to downplay the other action scenes, which are equally as impressive.

It’s fitting that the rug pull, when the characters finally reach Laputa, feels sad and empty. Laputa, having long been abandoned, is now a garden. The robots of Laputa, once their faithful servants, are now its humble caretakers, having outlived its civilization. It’s a humbling experience to witness, reminding the viewer that nature will always win out.

Perhaps that’s why the film’s only flaw, Sheeta’s heartbreaking speech, feels out-of-place: it’s unnecessary. We’ve already seen what she preaches. Even with the rescoring, courtesy of Joe Hisaishi for Disney’s dub, that part could’ve been trimmed and nothing would be lost. But it’s too late now to fix that...

Castle in the Sky’s exactly what it’s sold as: a high fantasy adventure that’s equally fun and moving. It’s long, but moves (mostly) quite briskly. It’s also nice to see a film like this actually attempt discussions about respecting nature, something that’d be done again in Princess Mononoke. It’s silly, often screwball, and occasionally emotional, but it never loses its sense of fun. That’s all I can really ask for.

V. Grave of the Fireflies

Now we arrive at Isao Takahata’s first film for Studio Ghibli. Initially, the film was meant to balance Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro, a heartbreaking Ying to an uplifting Yang. The two were even released as a double-billing, on the same day and often in the same theatres. An ambitious idea, but hindsight’s 20-20. Grave of the Fireflies is fondly remembered by fans today, but it was initially avoided like the plague and became a commercial failure.

I also have several issues with it. This isn’t to say that it’s “bad”, or that I don’t enjoy it, but each time I watch it I get the uneasy feeling that it could’ve been so much better. Perhaps the most-frustrating part, aside from its pacing, is that it spoils the ending in its opening. It’s no shocker that Seita and Setsuko don’t make it, that’s not ruining anything. Their unfortunate choices are what cause their demise. Yet by giving away the denouement immediately, only to flashback to how it started, much of the tension’s deflated.

It doesn’t help that the film’s notoriously-slow. Takahata’s biggest drawback has always been how meandering his films can get, and this one’s no exception. It’s not even 90-minutes, and yet it feels much longer. On one hand, this allows you to soak in what’s happening. On the other hand, it’s really tedious to sit through.

I also find some of the plotting monotonous. Most of the middle-act is about food, the lack of it, and the desire to steal more of it to stay alive. In theory, it works: wartime makes decent people amoral. Yet because so much of it’s so repetitive, I find myself getting antsy. That’s not a good sign.

Fortunately, this isn’t to dismiss the film. For all of its flaws, Grave of the Fireflies is beautifully animated and well-scored. The protagonists, Seita and Setsuko, are as likeable as they are real, with plights that make sense. Even when Seita’s pride gets in the way, which it does often, there’s an underlying sense of sympathy. You understand why he behaves the way he does, even though he’s never exonerated.

The film’s saving grave its final 20 minutes. Everything from the doctor’s remark that Setsuko needs food, right up until Seita’s ghost, rather condescendingly, glares down at modern-day Japan, is as effective as it is tragic. It gets me every time, such that Setsuko’s ghost running through the kids’ hiding place, set to “Home, Sweet Home”, is where the tears start. That’s not including the ending, which is equally upsetting.

It’s a shame that Grave of the Fireflies bombed financially, as its legacy has remained quite strong. Ironically, by not being bankrolled though Studio Ghibli’s usual publisher, the film’s also harder to find than the rest of the library. Still, for what it’s worth, it’s deserving of a watch. I wouldn’t call it my favourite from the late-director, but it’s pretty good in its own right.

VI. My Neighbor Totoro

The counter to Grave of the Fireflies’s depressing tone, My Neighbor Totoro feels like a celebration of childhood. It’s weird saying that about a film set in the 1950’s, especially since it’s not a childhood I’m familiar with, but that doesn’t make it less impactful. This is the Studio Ghibli movie I should be saying, “Okay Boomer” the most to…but then I stop and realize that, yeah, I still get it. Because it holds up.

Mei and Satsuki click because they embody different parts of childhood. Mei, being younger, is the early years, while Satsuki is the transition period. While Mei’s busy roaming the backyard and befriending the animals, Satsuki’s trying to help the family despite her busy father and sickly mother. And then, to tie it all together, there’s Totoro, the woodland spirit who helps them out on occasion. He may not appear until a little over 30-minutes in, and he only has a handful of scenes, but he’s managed to become the official mascot of the company.

Perhaps the reason why this movie works is because it grounds its fantasy in realism. Both Totoro, and later the Catbus, are there, and they’re given time to breathe, but they never crowd out the thematically-connected vignettes about a family coping with an ill mother. There’s still time for life at school, home and the hospital, it’s merely infused with a twinge of magic. All-the-better when the plot kicks in the last act, where everything gets heavy and the tears start falling down my cheeks again. Some might call that “forced”, but I call it “reality”.

Whether it’s the now-famous umbrella scene, or when Totoro helps Satsuki and Mei grow their acorns into a tree, there’s no shortage of whimsy and fun here. And at under 90-minutes, it also doesn’t overstay its welcome. My Neighbor Totoro’s like a fun, brief stay at your country cousin’s house: you never know what to expect, and your imagination can’t stop running wild. Bless it for that, even though it nearly tanked Studio Ghibli.

(To be continued.)