: Ponyo
Author: Hayao Miyazaki
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Definitely a change-up from traditional Miyazaki animation as this one is skewed for a younger audience (think 5-10), has a simpler story, and isn’t quite as serious. I loved it. My favorite thing is that this is set in the real world instead of a magical realm (though magic is in the film), and Miyazaki is surprisingly good at handling that material. The story is simple: a boy in a Japanese fishing village befriends a goldfish and she loves him and wants to be human. It turns out she is magic and can make that happen. The boy is five and adorable, and very clever, and his mom is wonderful. The human characters are realistically done, with my favorite moment being how upset the mom was when the dad took an extra run on the fishing boat and couldn’t come home and it’s the little boy who comforts mom. The mom’s reactions were adult as she didn’t try to hide her anger from the boy, and the boy’s innocence and utter love for his dad no matter what he did was charming and wonderful. The story itself goes to strange places toward the end, with the goldfish girl’s magic threatening the whole planet by somehow drawing the moon near and raising the sea level and flooding the fishing islands. It’s a great little story, perhaps not up to Miyazaki’s normal standards in terms of literary seriousness, but entertaining, charming, and surprisingly appealing to older adults.
Topic: [/movie] |
