Filed under: Reviews | Tags: 2014, hiromasa yonebayashi, when marnie was there
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Many films from Studio Ghibli begin with characters arriving in a new location, a tangible reflection of their blossoming transition into becoming more independent, thoughtful individuals. The stakes of the transition in When Marnie Was There may very well be the highest. While each new residence in the previous films marked the potential for incredible growth and change, the coastal home in this case is a necessary refuge for Anna, a twelve-year-old girl who is plagued with abandonment issues and self-loathing. While to be an outsider in many stories is a sort of holy, privileged thing, what When Marnie Was There does best is in articulating the difficulties of feeling isolated from the world. Anna doesn’t so much learn to love herself by the end of the picture, but rather to cope and accept the hand she’s been dealt. The reason it’s not quite as successful as some of the studio’s best offerings is the distancing mechanics of the plot. Whereas films like Spirited Away and even My Neighbor Totoro progress with a certain organic, messy quality in which the themes of the story gradually reveal themselves, When Marnie Was There revolves around certain contrivances and inevitabilities that don’t match the untidiness of the age it’s capturing. Therefore, supporting characters like the silent fisherman and the mysterious painter don’t play like they live outside of Anna’s world, rather like they exist only as pieces to move her story along. Regardless, it’s as beautiful as anything the studio has produced, and the gothic tone is a nice answer to the studio’s more lighthearted offerings.
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