Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke) is tied as my favourite Ghibli film (along with Mimi wo Sumaseba) and also happens to be one of my favourite works of fiction altogether. It is such an expansive story with a rich mythological backdrop and epic scale – but without sacrificing the more intimate, human elements. No single scene feels out of place, no piece of dialogue feels unecessary. The viewer is utterly captivated and brought into this world that feels so real despite the brain telling you that it must be fiction. I think that other Miyazaki films, such as Porco Rosso or Laputa, show us that he is on a brilliant level of filmmaking. But to me, Mononoke-hime goes beyond even the high standard of those films – it is a film that must have been the work of a genius with a superb natural ability for visual storytelling.
Er, okay, that was a bit overdramatic, but it’s a bit hard to not get emotional when you watch over 500 musicians come together under the baton of Hisaishi Joe to perform the beautiful and evocative pieces of music from the greatest animated films of all time. Hisaishi’s music won’t always satisfy listeners who are constantly searching for musical innovation or complexity, but they will satisfy by a mile anyone who is searching for music with sincerity and heart. Beyond that, I can’t think of any other composer who can so effectively bring to music the nostalgia, wistfulness and childlike wonder we all retain within us even as we grow older.
The moment in “Whisper of the Heart” where Shizuku, prodded along by Seji, begins to sing nervously, and is soon joined by Seji’s uncle and his friends to form an ensemble, is my favourite moment in any Ghibli film, and one of my favourite film moments altogether. The reasons for this are half-quality wise and half-personal. It’s a well directed scene, of course. The version of the song itself is a wonderful arrangement, portraying the simplicity of the scene and expressing how beautiful such simplicity can be. This is the sort of scene where Ghibli films have a clear distinction from Disney films. In a Disney film, this moment, a song, would perhaps start with the solo violin and then quickly transform into a full musical number with a professional singer and production. But Ghibli keeps the simplicity…..continued)
So by now, I think everyone’s well acquainted with the fact that we are getting two new films, both a Miyazaki film and (surprise:) a new Takahata film! The thing about Miyazaki is, we all appreciate when we learn of a new film, but we almost expect it. With Takahata, it’s really something to find out he has a new project planned……….(continued)
Username: Theowne Real Name: Prasanth Interests: Studio Ghibli, French classical music, physics, piano, Japanese, Indian classical music. Occupation: Computer Engineering Student Currently an intern at IBM. Location: Toronto, Canada Contact: Feel free to strike up a convo at " theowne [AT] gmail [DOT] com. Omohide?: The old spelling of omoide, meaning "memories". A reference to the film 'Omohide Poroporo'
