I think Miyazaki is at his best when he is working on a subject that is really important to him personally (e.g. his own childhood or his views on humans' relationship to the environment, generally vis-a-vis technology).
Therefore, I think My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Nausicaa, and Princess Mononoke are among his strongest films. Conversely, I think Porco Rosso, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Howl's Moving Castle are among his weakest films, since they are homages or adaptations of things that aren't as resonant with Miyazaki himself. Apparently, Miyazaki changed elements of the story of Howl's Moving Castle to resonate more strongly with his beliefs (according to Wikipedia, he added the war element because of the war in Iraq), but modification pales in comparison to construction.
That said, Howl's Moving Castle impressed me in some ways and disappointed me in others.
I was satisfied with the visual style and animation. I think the CGI was incorporated pretty seamlessly into the film, and there were some fantastic sequences of magic. The moment when Suliman jabbed the ground with her stick, launching Howl and Sophie into a constantly morphing realm, was awe-inspiring. I liked the way Miyazaki explored greater and greater depths of the characters' powers, visually.
I was dissatisfied with the incredibly neat, happy ending. I was fine with Howl and Sophie getting together at the end, but I thought Turnip Head being restored to a prince by Sophie's kiss was too much. I wonder why Miyazaki chose to end the film this way, against his usual style. I think it would have been interesting to leave threads of the film unanswered and unsolved, but pretty much everyone is fine at the end. It's possible that he thought this would be his last film and so went for a happy ending to sum up his directorial career.
Of all of Miyazaki's films, I think this one would be interesting to see in English; it might have more resonance with the English novel (which I haven't read).
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Spirited Away
Things I noticed about Spirited Away...
1. The link to consumerism and consumption, rather explicitly shown in the numerous scenes of eating in the film. Here are the ones I remember:
- Chihiro's parents eating their feast
- No Face eating the magic dumpling
- Chihiro eating the seed/berry Haku gives her
- Chihiro and Lin eating pork buns
- Chihiro eating the dumpling Haku gives her
- No Face eating the various bathhouse folks
In many of these scenes, eating is associated with strong feelings of revulsion or some other emotional response. Chihiro breaks down in tears when she eats the dumplings given her by Haku, and I'm sure the bathhouse folks don't appreciate being eaten. Likewise, there's the antithesis of eating - vomiting - emphasized in No Face's "tour de force", as Napier calls it, throwing up everything he's eaten.
Also throughout the film, food tends to have a mystical connotation of some sort - it's rarely just for nourishment. Even Chihiro and Lin's eating of the pork buns is problematic because Chihiro takes a bite of the magic dumpling and is disgusted by it - it looks like she bites into the pork bun to wash it down. Chihiro's rejection of food seems synonymous with her rejection of riches and consumerism more generally - she only takes what she needs, even at the beginning of the film.
2. The giant ducks in Spirited Away are like crosses between Totoro and chocobo from Final Fantasy, while Haku looks like a cross between the wolves from Princess Mononoke and a dragon.
1. The link to consumerism and consumption, rather explicitly shown in the numerous scenes of eating in the film. Here are the ones I remember:
- Chihiro's parents eating their feast
- No Face eating the magic dumpling
- Chihiro eating the seed/berry Haku gives her
- Chihiro and Lin eating pork buns
- Chihiro eating the dumpling Haku gives her
- No Face eating the various bathhouse folks
In many of these scenes, eating is associated with strong feelings of revulsion or some other emotional response. Chihiro breaks down in tears when she eats the dumplings given her by Haku, and I'm sure the bathhouse folks don't appreciate being eaten. Likewise, there's the antithesis of eating - vomiting - emphasized in No Face's "tour de force", as Napier calls it, throwing up everything he's eaten.
Also throughout the film, food tends to have a mystical connotation of some sort - it's rarely just for nourishment. Even Chihiro and Lin's eating of the pork buns is problematic because Chihiro takes a bite of the magic dumpling and is disgusted by it - it looks like she bites into the pork bun to wash it down. Chihiro's rejection of food seems synonymous with her rejection of riches and consumerism more generally - she only takes what she needs, even at the beginning of the film.
2. The giant ducks in Spirited Away are like crosses between Totoro and chocobo from Final Fantasy, while Haku looks like a cross between the wolves from Princess Mononoke and a dragon.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke is an epic film. It's obvious that Miyazaki spent a long time thinking about the small details that compose it. According to Wikipedia, he spent 16 years developing the story and characters.
I didn't know that Princess Mononoke used CGI before this class. I thought that it was all animated traditionally. Despite that, the uses of CGI are really clever and well-executed.
The depth, animation, and personality of each of the characters is very engrossing. I like the interactions between the non-human characters.
The reason for the death of the deer god came up in class. Different theories were advanced. For the record, I think the deer god died because it had not completely re-absorbed its head before the sun came up. My evidence for this is that a flash of light went through the night walker as it absorbed its head, but the light did not fill its entire body.
I didn't know that Princess Mononoke used CGI before this class. I thought that it was all animated traditionally. Despite that, the uses of CGI are really clever and well-executed.
The depth, animation, and personality of each of the characters is very engrossing. I like the interactions between the non-human characters.
The reason for the death of the deer god came up in class. Different theories were advanced. For the record, I think the deer god died because it had not completely re-absorbed its head before the sun came up. My evidence for this is that a flash of light went through the night walker as it absorbed its head, but the light did not fill its entire body.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Porco Rosso: De-Assurance
Porco Rosso is the most "de-assuring" of the films by Miyazaki that I've seen thus far.
Even from the strange, 'typed-out' introduction, the film seemed to be playing with my expectations, subverting what I have come to take for granted in Miyazaki films.
Some more examples...
1. The main character was not the girl, Fio, but the pig, Porco. Moreover, Fio didn't show up for quite a while.
2. The film took place in the real world, albeit one with a strange 'underground' society of air pirates.
3. The dogfights, especially the final one, subverted my expectations of a dogfight because Miyazaki seemed to refuse to show much real aerial violence. He had no problem showing the fistfight, though.
4. Although Porco ostensibly got what he wanted in the end (to become human again), the moment was not focused on in any conventional way. I expected to see Porco's human face at the very end of the film, but I was "de-assured" yet again.
Because of all of these oddities, I wonder greatly about the circumstances of this film's creation. I suspect it was more than Miyazaki simply wanting to make a film about pilots.
Even from the strange, 'typed-out' introduction, the film seemed to be playing with my expectations, subverting what I have come to take for granted in Miyazaki films.
Some more examples...
1. The main character was not the girl, Fio, but the pig, Porco. Moreover, Fio didn't show up for quite a while.
2. The film took place in the real world, albeit one with a strange 'underground' society of air pirates.
3. The dogfights, especially the final one, subverted my expectations of a dogfight because Miyazaki seemed to refuse to show much real aerial violence. He had no problem showing the fistfight, though.
4. Although Porco ostensibly got what he wanted in the end (to become human again), the moment was not focused on in any conventional way. I expected to see Porco's human face at the very end of the film, but I was "de-assured" yet again.
Because of all of these oddities, I wonder greatly about the circumstances of this film's creation. I suspect it was more than Miyazaki simply wanting to make a film about pilots.
Kiki's Delivery Service
In my opinion, the most memorable moments from Kiki's Delivery Service are:
1. The granddaughter's dismissive, thankless attitude to her grandmother's pastry that Kiki delivers to her. This is built up to have a very strong emotional impact because of Kiki's bonding with the grandmother and her subsequent journey through the storm.
2. Jiji still only being able to meow at the end. It's unexpected, strange, and de-assuring, as has been pointed out in class discussion.
3. Kiki preparing to fly; her hair rippling upward and the determined look on her face, plus the absence of sound in this moment. Miyazaki creates a cyclical structure by doing this at the beginning of the film as an introduction and at the end for the climax. It works very well.
I've also noticed something of a trend in Miyazaki's heroines - they each seem to have one 'mystical' special talent or ability which turns out to be directly useful in that film's story.
1. Nausicaa can communicate with animals. (Of course, Nausicaa has lots of abilities, which I suspect has to do with Nausicaa being such an early film by Miyazaki.)
2. Sheeta has the Laputan jewel and the ability to use it.3. Mei and Satsuki can see the Totoros.
4. Kiki can fly.Also, speaking of Nausicaa, this is a travesty. It's rather shockingly horrible.
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