Catching the Classics

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Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 4) – Spirited Away

Spirited Away, the eighth of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Castle in the Sky (1986).

This week: Spirited Away (2001).

Synopsis: Ten-year-old Chihiro (voiced by Daveigh Chase) and her parents are moving to a new town. While en route to their new house, the family takes the wrong road and stumbles upon an abandoned amusement park. Chihiro tries to convince her parents to turn around and go back, but — after eating some mysterious food — her parents turn into pigs and Chihiro finds herself no longer in the human world but in the realm of the spirits. To survive and help her parents turn back into humans, Chihiro must make allies and friends as she tries to find her way in this strange realm.

Spoiler-free review: Unlike the other three films I’ve covered so far, this is one of Miyazaki’s movies I had seen previously. I watched it — albeit with the Japanese voice actors and English subtitles — in college as part of an Eastern civilization course. I remember hearing about it when I was growing up, as it won the 2001 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. This movie, in my experience, is perhaps Miyazaki’s most well-known and most beloved film. Many die-hard fans will tell you that this is his best movie. While I didn’t understand the hype about this movie after I saw it the first time in college, after rewatching it for the series, I now understand why it’s so beloved and critically acclaimed. The film boasts stunning animation, a strong English-language voice cast, a succinct story and very iconic and memorable characters. I personally believe that Princess Mononoke (1997) is Miyazaki’s best film, but I would say this movie is of an equal caliber and it’s really more a question of minutia over which is the better of the two. And while I’ll cover Princess Mononoke in Part 9 of this series, I’ll say that Spirited Away is certainly more family friendly, more efficient in its storytelling and has slightly better animation than its predecessor. So, if you haven’t already seen it, you definitely should.

Letter grade: A

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

When I watched this movie for the first time, I’ll admit that it I didn’t understand the hype around it. All the Miyazaki fans I’ve ever encountered — in person or online — talked up this movie and acted like it was the best thing since sliced bread. My eastern religions professor was certainly one of them, as I believe he said we would be missing out on the experience if we didn’t watch it in the original Japanese. I definitely enjoyed watching it the first time around, but thought it was overhyped.

Now that I’ve seen more of Miyazaki’s and Studio Ghibli’s films, I understand why. The animation seems to be of a slightly different (and arguably better) style than its predecessors. The people seem to look and move a little differently; and the film benefits from some unique, beautiful and haunting character designs for Yubaba and Zeniba, No-Face, Haku, and other demons and spirits that Chihiro/Sen encounters. And, I have to say, that sequence when the park starts to transition into the realm of the spirits, and Chihiro sees all the shadowy spirits walking around is a very well-done sequence that helps put you into the world, builds up an atmosphere, and features a lot of eerie images that are now very iconic.

The story is also simple and that allows for lots of important character-building moments, like Chihiro crying in front of Haku or confronting No-Face, as well as more dramatic sequences, like when the little paper cut-outs attack Haku or when Sen journeys to visit Zeniba.

Unlike some other Miyazaki protagonists (cough — Sheeta and Pazu from Castle in the Sky  — cough) Chihiro/Sen has a clear arc, as that final juxtaposed scene in the tunnel shows us. At the beginning of the film, she was cowardly and acting like a scaredy-cat when it came to facing new challenges, like visiting the park or moving to a new town; and by the end, she has gained confidence and courage, and is no longer upset about moving to a new town. While maybe it’s not what she’d like, she’s now prepared for the challenges that lie ahead, because she’s already overcome so much in the realm of the spirits. And, I like the little touch of the hair band. It’s a little detail that could’ve been overlooked, but the animators and those behind the scenes went out of their way to remind us of what Chihiro has come through and what she’s now capable of.

Along with its great story, animation and characters, this movie also boasts a phenomenal English-language voice cast — one of the stronger ones, in my opinion, among Miyazaki’s filmography. There really aren’t any weak links. Everyone gives a solid performance, especially Daveigh Chase, who would’ve been about 10 years old when she recorded her part as Chihiro. As I said in my review for Castle in the Sky, when a full-blown adult is playing a child or pre-teen, it can take you out of the film. So I’m relieved that this movie didn’t fall into that territory, and that Chihiro is old enough that it’s not annoying when she’s on screen for more than 10 minutes. (There are other Miyazaki movies that have this problem, and we’ll talk about them more in the coming weeks.)

While I appreciate Jason Marsden’s Haku and Susan Egan’s Lin, I have to say that the MVP of the voice cast is Suzanne Pleshette, who plays the twin sisters Yubaba and Zeniba. Yubaba is such a memorable antagonist, and Pleshette flawlessly gets across all of Yubaba’s different moments and outbursts — whether she’s yelling at Chihiro/Sen, trying to placate a customer, or looking for Baby. But then, Zeniba is so completely different from Yubaba in terms of their personalities, even though they look identical. Yet Pleshette pulls it off beautifully, getting across how much softer, kinder and more motherly Zeniba is compared to her sister.

I do have a few qualms with the movie, which keep it from being an A+. But, they’re very minor. For instance, after Chihiro/Sen meets Zeniba and befriends her, she becomes a little too friendly with Yubaba. I suppose it’s because she’s no longer afraid of Yubaba like before, but I don’t think that she’s the kind of person for Chihiro to hug and thank whenever her parents are restored and she gets to go home. As I said: very minor things.

Overall, it’s a wonderful film, and absolutely one to watch or revisit whenever you get the chance.

Next week: The Wind Rises (2013).

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 3) – Castle in the Sky

Castle in the Sky, the third of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).

This week: Castle in the Sky (1986).

Synopsis: Pirates and government agents alike pursue Sheeta (voiced by Anna Paquin), who holds a crystal that is from the legendary Laputa, a self-sustaining castle-city that hangs in the sky, unseen by man. Sheeta, while fleeing those who pursue her, encounters Pazu (voiced by James Van Der Beek), a young orphan boy. The two team up to evade the pirates and the government, and they make unlikely allies along the way as everyone races to find Laputa, the famed castle in the sky!

Spoiler-free review: Unfortunately for this movie, it doesn’t bring a lot to the table as a Miyazaki film. It’s not as fun as Porco Rosso; and it’s not as ambitious or impactful as Nausicaä. On its own merit, this is a fine movie, but as a Miyazaki film, it’s just kind of… there. There are several well-done animation sequences, one of which is depicted on the cover above; but, I feel that the film has pacing problems and seems a lot longer than its actual 2-hour runtime. The voice cast is fine, and the actual adventure is good, but it suffers from having the more engaging villain become an ally midway through, and by having its actual Big Bad come off as super over-the-top to the point where he’s cartoonish (and not in a good way). By the end, I was kind of ready for the movie to be over. Plus, like Nausicaä, it suffers from older animation, but while Nausicaä had an engaging story and characters, this is not quite on the same level. Again, not a bad movie in its own right, but as a Miyazaki film, it’s one of his lesser outings.

Letter grade: B-

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

For a voice cast that includes the amazing Mark Hamill, this might be one of Miyazaki’s movies with a lesser voice cast.

James Van Der Beek, by himself, does very well; but having a grown man play a 12-year-old boy is as weird choice. Out of curiosity, I switched over the movie’s audio to the Japanese vocals, and Pazu’s Japanese voice actor sounds much more age-appropriate. Anna Paquin, likewise, does fine, but I felt like she kept going in and out of a British accent. I will say that that might’ve been me, as I had the sound pretty low, but either way, she didn’t strike me as one of the stronger members of the voice cast.

Cloris Leachman, on the other hand, has to be the MVP of the cast, playing Dola, the leader of the pirate gang. Leachman’s performance helps give Dola some color in an otherwise bland array of characters. All those moments of determined greed, motherly softness, or human concern came through in her performance, and helped Dola seem far more three-dimensional than I thought the movie was going for, judging by the opening 30 minutes.

As for Mark Hamill and his character Muska, Hamill’s voice performance — for me — sounds too similar to the Joker. I know that Hamill is capable of making each of his characters sound unique, and so I’m not sure if the producers wanted him to sound like that on purpose or whether it was just happenstance. While I will admit that I like the revelation that Muska is also a descendant of Laputa, which explains a lot of things about him, he doesn’t have the complexity that I was hoping for. Many of Miyazaki’s movies don’t have straight-up villains, but rather antagonists who are a little bit more interesting and complex than a typical “Mwhahahaha” sort of villain. Compared to Lady Eboshi from Princess Mononoke, Yubaba from Spirited Away, or Fujimoto from Ponyo, Muska is simply evil and not much else.

Now, while I have a lot of problems with this movie, there’s also a lot of good to talk about.

As I said, there are several really well-done sequences in the movie, including the opening minutes where Sheeta tries to get away from the government and then the pirates and ends up falling from the airship to presumably hit the ground thousands of feet below; the sequence where Pazu sees her floating and saves her; the two sequences with the robots, who somehow have more personality than some of the human characters; and — perhaps my favorite — is the part where Sheeta and Pazu are talking in the Crow’s Nest and everyone on the ship overhears the conversation. Sheeta’s desire to save people, even those who had very recently tried to kill her, saves her from being a totally flat and boring character.

As stated, the real problems in this movie come from the pacing, it seems. By the time the army arrives at Laputa, I just wanted the protagonists to hurry up and win. And, yet, there are a lot of drawn out sequences of Pazu running around and Sheeta running around, and Muska monologuing, and I kind of just wanted the movie to end by that point. It was a little bit disappointing that, after all the build-up about Laputa, the castle floated up into the air rather than Sheeta and Pazu getting to live there or bring it back down to earth or something. But, it makes sense tonally that the great technological marvels of Laputa stay out of humanity’s reach, lest someone like Muska try to use it for evil.

Overall, I’d probably watch it again one of these days, just to see if my opinion of it improves any, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to people. There are other, much better Miyazaki movies for people to watch. But, if anyone’s curious, I wouldn’t stop them from checking it out.

Next week: Spirited Away (2001).

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 2) – Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Nausicaa, the second of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

Last week, I tackled Porco Rosso (1992).

This week: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).

Synopsis: Nausicaä (voiced by Alison Lohman) is a princess of the eponymous Valley of the Wind during a bleak post-apocalyptic time period. Her kingdom benefits from its location along a coastline, where the wind blows away all the toxic air that comes from the neighboring forests, which are also filled with dangerous, giant bugs. While the Valley of the Wind is a small kingdom, the neighboring kingdoms are much better equipped and more politically ambitious. Conflict soon comes to the Valley of the Wind, and Nausicaä must work with others to save her people and find a harmony between mankind and nature.

Spoiler-free review: This film is one of the harder Miyazaki movies to review, because it reminds me a lot of Princess Mononoke (which I’ve seen before, but haven’t watched yet for the series). It has a darker tone; it’s more ambitious in terms of the worldbuilding; it has more ‘adult’ components to it (like the political and environmental undertones); and it’s not a particularly ‘fun’ Miyazaki movie. I had such a blast watching Porco Rosso last week, but this film feels denser and much heavier by comparison. That being said, by no means is it a bad film. The worldbuilding is well-done, the creatures’ designs and the movie’s visuals are stunning, and it features a very talented voice cast including Edward James Olmos, Uma Thurman and Patrick Stewart. I find it kind of interesting that this was classified as a children’s film when I picked it up at the library, because I feel like younger kids (ages 4-7) would be very overwhelmed or bored by this movie. It really seems more for older children (ages 8-10) or pre-teens. And, of course, adults will probably enjoy it as well. So, I would say it’s definitely worth checking out, but it’s not the fun and breezy watch that Porco Rosso is.

Letter grade: B

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

Overall, I’d say that there are Miyazaki movies that I like better, and there are Miyazaki movies that I think are done better, but this is a worthy sophomore outing for the famous director after his debut with Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.

While the film is older and doesn’t have the same brilliant colors or newer techniques and technologies that later Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli films benefit from, it’s still very impressive and doesn’t feel quite as dated as other animation from the 70s and 80s. So, overall the animation and the visuals really hold up after 35 years.

When the movie first introduced Nausicaä, I was afraid she was going to be a very typical Disney princess-type of character — sweet, kind, innocent, cares about animals, is loved by everyone, and seemingly has no flaws. However, about a third of the way into the movie, there was an important moment for Nausicaä, and after that, I was totally on board with her character. When another kingdom invades the Valley of the Wind, and kills Nausicaä’s father, the king, she acts on her darkest impulses and her overwhelming grief and anger and kills every single one of the enemy soldiers in the room. And, while there are a lot of dark things in this movie visually (including a stand-in for a nuclear weapon), this is perhaps the darkest thing, tone-wise, that we see.

Now, other films probably would’ve used that moment to turn Nausicaä into some kind of vengeful hero who rallied her people to fight the invaders and take back their land — which would be typical of a lot of other action/adventure movies of that era and this one. But, instead, this film does the exact opposite. Nausicaä realizes what she’s done and what it means and the terrible cost it has, and uses what she’s done to recommit herself to pacifism and protecting life, especially the lives of her people. She tells them that, while it’s devastating to lose their kingdom and have to surrender to the invaders, it’s better to lose their land and their freedom than it is to lose their lives.

One downside to the movie that I’ll mention is the weird shoehorned-in prophecy. It’s only mentioned once, very early on in the movie, and then really doesn’t come into play again at all until the final minutes. I even went back and double-checked: the animators specifically changed the color of the outfit Nausicaä is wearing toward the end of the movie just so she will fit the prophecy. Nausicaä’s outfit, when she first puts it on and starts heading back to the Valley of the Wind, is pink. But at some point during the final confrontation with the ohmu, it suddenly and inexplicably becomes blue — which fits the prophecy. So, I’m not sure why it was discussed or put in the film in the first place. Nausicaä’s actions still would’ve been heroic and brave and critical for her people (and mankind as a whole) without having to make her some kind of prophesied savior. She’s the hero of our story without needing to fulfill some great destiny. Having her try so desperately to save everyone — the ohmu included — is reason enough to root for her.

In any case, I feel like the messages of this movie — about empathy, compassion, and the preciousness of all life — are well done, but might fly over the heads of some younger viewers. Still, it’s a wonderful movie, and while I think that Princess Mononoke handles some of these same things much better, I’ll have to talk about that whenever I review it in the coming weeks.

Next week: Castle in the Sky (1986).

Articles, Catching the Classics, Miyazaki, Review

Catching the Miyazaki Classics (Part 1) – Porco Rosso

Porco Rosso, the sixth of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer/director

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps best known for his work with Studio Ghibli, has gained popularity around the world for his creative and imaginative animated feature films. While they were originally released in Japanese, all of them have been dubbed into English with prominent voice actors and Hollywood stars. For the next several weeks, I’ll be reviewing the English-dub versions of each of Miyazaki’s 11 films as writer and director.

This week: Porco Rosso (1992).

Synopsis: Porco (voiced by Michael Keaton) is a former WWI pilot from the Italian Air Force, who was cursed with the face of a pig for his cowardice. He’s abandoned his country and his former life, and now hides out in the Mediterranean and makes a living as a bounty-hunter of seaplane pirates. His only remaining friend is Gina (voiced by Susan Egan), his love interest in the film. Porco’s piloting skills and tenacious attitude have made life difficult for the local seaplane pirates, and they combine their resources to hire Curtis (voiced by Cary Elwes) to shoot down Porco. Curtis does so, but Porco makes it out alive and goes to Milan to have his plane repaired by the Piccolo family. There, he meets Fio (voiced by Kimberly Williams-Paisley), an up-and-coming aerospace engineer who wants to prove herself by fixing Porco’s plane. In the end, Porco and Fio work together to return to the Mediterranean and face Curtis and the seaplane pirates.

Spoiler-free review: Porco Rosso is such a fun and breezy watch, and I had such a blast with it that I decided to watch it twice. Clocking in at about 90 minutes, it has a good pace and atmosphere to it, feeling neither too heavy nor too light. It touches on some heavier topics, including death, the trauma of war and even the afterlife, to a degree. However, it does this in a way that’s approachable and understandable for people of all ages. Like all Miyazaki films, both the animation and the music are amazing. Composer Joe Hisaishi and the Studio Ghibli animation team do an excellent job of putting you in the Adriatic Sea, flying the skies up in Porco’s plane, or sending you back to the “Bygone Days.” The one issue I had with the movie is that the ending is abrupt and a little disappointing after such a fun build-up. But, overall, the characters are fun and memorable, the voice cast is talented, and the story is engaging and something that kids (and adults) of all ages could enjoy.

Letter grade: B+

Full review and critique: (Warning: here be spoilers!)

I got the idea to watch this movie — and actually, to do the whole “Catching the Miyazaki Classics” series — from listening to the song “Bygone Days.” Without having seen the movie, I got serious Film Noir-type vibes, and it felt reminiscent of “As Time Goes By” from Casablanca. So, I was intrigued and had to check it out.

The song “Bygone Days” wasn’t the only thing about this movie that reminded me of Casablanca. Porco, as a character, felt a lot like Humphrey Bogart’s Rick. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that, had Humphrey Bogart been alive when this movie was made, he would’ve been the ideal voice for Porco.

Both Porco and Rick (from Casablanca) have hard and jaded exteriors, something they’ve gained from a life full of difficult experiences. Because of this, both characters tend to keep to themselves and don’t really get close to anyone — at least, at the beginning of their respective films. Porco is close to Gina, but that’s about it. However, underneath all their self-centered bravado, both are men who have a strict code of honor that they live by, which includes looking out for those traditionally considered ‘vulnerable’ – women, children, the poor, etc. For instance, as seen during the fight of honor at the end, Porco refuses to shoot a pilot, and only shoots the plane.

And just like how Rick reunites with Ilsa and seemingly rediscovers what it means to fight for others rather than simply himself, so too does Porco after he meets Fio.

Fio and Porco’s relationship, while it doesn’t have much screentime, is a bit complex and hard to define. Porco certainly makes the comment that he has a reputation as a womanizer and doesn’t want to scandalize Fio, and there is the scene where she decides to go swimming, and he looks away as she throws off her clothes. He also blushes both times that she kisses him on the cheek. However, there are several instances where people remark on the age gap between them, and Porco himself frequently calls her “kid.” So, it seems that the relationship is a sort of chivalric romance.

Porco doesn’t love Fio the way he loves Gina, but he still respects and admires Fio, both as an engineer and as a person. And she motivates him to be a better, more courageous and more honorable man. He stands up for her in the honor fight against Curtis, wanting to win mostly because he doesn’t want Fio to have to marry Curtis. In fact, Fio’s presence seems to have this effect on all the seaplane pirates, as a few chastisements from her causes them all to start behaving more honorably. She even uses this ‘call to honor’ to have the pirates give up their intent to murder Porco, and instead fight him honorably via Curtis.

And while I really enjoy this dynamic between Porco and Fio, perhaps my favorite part of the movie is when Porco recounts his last dogfight in WWI, and the sequence where we see Porco’s friends and fellow pilots move on to a sort of pilots-only afterlife. The image all of all those planes in a big, long band in the sky, seeing all the different colors and insignia and allegiances represented, and yet they’re all dead and flying together forever… If I’d lost my best friends and seen something like that, I might be a jaded coward too. What does it matter which side you fight for, if you’re all going to end up in the same afterlife? And, honestly, it’s probably a good thing that Porco is out for himself. Otherwise, he’d be a pilot for the Facist government.

As I said, Porco Rosso is a fun watch, and it was a great one to kick-off this “Catching the Miyazaki Classics” series!

Next week: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

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