The next Ghibli movie: When Marnie Was There (思い出のマーニー)

[greg]

So this Saturday, a new Ghibli movie will be released in theaters: When Marnie Was There. Friday is payday, so I will buy the presale tickets at the convenience store since they stop selling discount advance tickets once a movie hits theaters. We'll be driving up to the mountains of Nagano-ken that evening to enjoy the 3-day weekend at the in-laws' (Japan is pretty good about 3-day weekends very often). I had the idea that we could take the J-Mom to a theater on Saturday to go see the movie, but her mind may be a bit preoccupied with some family drama that has been going on. She's been very stressed out as a result, and I would hope to do something nice for her like taking her to go see a movie, but her heart has been aching too much.

So the next weekend I will be in Tokyo from the 26th to the 28th to poke around and attend the Summer Wonder Festival. So at this rate, it may not be until August when we go see this movie.

I know little about this movie, other than it is an adaptation of a Joan G. Robinson novel (not sure who she is) and that it involves a ghost. My daughter LOVES ghosts, so I think this movie will hold her attention. The last movie I took her to see was the live-action Majou no Takkyuubin/Kiki's Delivery Service movie in March.

[greg]

Well, I bought the tickets on Friday. So not this weekend, but hopefully the next weekend we can go see this movie at last.

[Animusubi]

This movie looks more interesting to me than Wind Rises (which I still haven't seen) only because there's a charm about it that's appealing to me. But I haven't really been liking Ghibli movies from Ponyo onward, I mean, I like them, but I prefer the older ones.

[llj]

Of the post-Ponyo Ghiblis, I thought From Up on Poppy Hill was quite pleasing to watch. I'd like to see more from Goro--I feel like he has more to say than what he's let on so far, and he has a very different mentality than his father does. Arrietty on the other hand ain't bad for family viewing, but as a result it sometimes it feels more like a 1990s Disney film than a Ghibli. Ironically enough, it's actually the most successful Ghibli film in US box office history. If When Marnie Was There follows a similar Disney-like formula as Arrietty, it could make some decent coin in the US as well.

The Wind Rises was really interesting and ambitious. I think it will be a Miyazaki movie that should encourage good analysis and retrospectives 15 to 20 years later. I'm actually a bit disappointing at how the shallow the discussion has been regarding The Wind Rises so far. It's either been mindless gushing ("It's a MASTERPIECE!!") or simplistic criticisms along the lines of "Wah, I didn't connect with it at all." There's a lot in it to unpack. In terms of density of ideas, subtext, filmmaking craft...it's up there with the Wings of Honneamise. It's not a "perfect" film, but who wants that? A perfect film is ultimately a boring film.

I'm really looking forward to getting around to seeing Kaguya Hime.

[yusaku]

I found a clip of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCAjMGl1mJg Marnie was There. From what i can tell it is a friend about a close friendship between two very lonely, isolated people. In the clip from a scene in a row boat you can see the closeness that builds between what were strangers. It is hard to get such friendship from even relatives.

True art reflects what we want our world to be like. This is about platonic friendship at a very deep almost romantic level. The main characters had to be female to portray a deeper friendship. This film is for anyone who is still looking for that friend that is closer than a brother and can sense your need like a father or mother. I look forward to seeing this film in the US.

[greg]

I was in Tokyo over the weekend, but this weekend will be free. I am hoping that we can go see the movie on Saturday. I'll give impressions afterwards.

[Animusubi]

The Wind Rises was really interesting and ambitious. I think it will be a Miyazaki movie that should encourage good analysis and retrospectives 15 to 20 years later. I'm actually a bit disappointing at how the shallow the discussion has been regarding The Wind Rises so far. It's either been mindless gushing ("It's a MASTERPIECE!!") or simplistic criticisms along the lines of "Wah, I didn't connect with it at all." There's a lot in it to unpack. In terms of density of ideas, subtext, filmmaking craft...it's up there with the Wings of Honneamise. It's not a "perfect" film, but who wants that? A perfect film is ultimately a boring film.

A friend of mine watched it and I think he was in the "I didn't connect with it at all" group. I really do want to see it, before I really say much about it.

[ServantOfPriss]

What's your take on this, greg?

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2 ... st-weekend

[greg]

That link results in a 404 error, but it's probably because I live in Japan. I can see the title of the article in the URL though. I will reserve judgment until I see the movie, hopefully this weekend. If looking at box office numbers alone, then one would think that Michael Bay's movies are more entertaining and better directed than Wes Anderson movies.

[ServantOfPriss]

That link results in a 404 error, but it's probably because I live in Japan. I can see the title of the article in the URL though. I will reserve judgment until I see the movie, hopefully this weekend. If looking at box office numbers alone, then one would think that Michael Bay's movies are more entertaining and better directed than Wes Anderson movies.

Alright, I'll quote what it says here:

Studio Ghibli's latest anime film When Marnie Was There directed by 41-year-old Hiromasa Yonebayashi opened in Japan with 461 screens on July 19 and earned a very disappointing 379,000,000 yen (about US$3,734,000) with 285,200 ticket sales in its first weekend. It took third place in the weekend box office following Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction in 1st and Maleficent in 2nd. The result was only 42% of his first feature film The Secret World of Arrietty, which made about 900,000,000 yen with 680,000 tickets in its opening weekend on July 17-18, 2010, in 447 screens.

For the past couple of weeks, it has been strongly rumored that Toshio Suzuki, Ghibli's producer and co-founder, is now seriously considering the closure of the anime production division of the internationally acclaimed studio, after the retirement of his long-time colleague Hayao Miyazaki. In the
latest episode of his "Ghibli Asemamire" podcast posted on June 27 before the release of the film, he
actually said that the future of Ghibli depended on the results (both box office and critics) of When Marnie
Was There.