When Marnie Was There (2015)

"When Marnie Was There" is a strikingly beautiful animated feature from the renowned Studio Ghibli. Based on a British novel of the same name, the story follows Anna, a troubled teenager who finds friendship and ultimately revelation in Marnie, a mysterious young girl who seems to live both in Anna's world and in her dreams. Like all Ghibli productions, the animation is lush, detailed and fluid. The voice work in the English version I watched is good despite being somewhat flat and generic at times. I very much like Studio Ghibli movies but find in general that anime adds more to fantasy films (where it can make unreal real, such as "Howl's Moving Castle" or "Spirited Away") than it does to more 'realistic' films such as "When Marnie Was There". Despite that, and being both the wrong gender and decades away from the target audience, I really enjoyed, and would recommend, "When Marnie Was There".

Obviously I'm one of the few who weren't impressed by this movie. It wasn't that it lacked the fantasy, magical effect; on the contrary, it was quite enjoyable, with the beautiful landscapes and the detailed scenes. However, the story kind of dragged on. I guess it's is mainly me that was bothered by that and in general, this movie is quite good. The story is interesting, though it gets confusing with the way the relationship between the two girls is developed and the fact that Anna, although agreeing that there is something "fishy" about Marnie, on the very next scene she continues on like nothing has happened. Towards the end, things get way too obvious, but at least the ending was good and satisfying, as it didn't left any case unsolved and every story got a happy closure. So, 4 out of 10.

I tend to watch everything produced by Ghibli because their movies are astounding: the glorious artistic animation, the magic lighting, the wonderful colors, the picturesque landscaping, the attention to the detail, the way they capture daily life no matter the stories happen in urban or rural settings. Besides, the people at Ghibli do spend as much time on drawing the movie as on creating the story and developing the characters. Their stories are always a mix of the mundane and the celestial, the worldly and the dreamy, the ordinary and the extraordinary in life, the matter of fact and the inexplicable. Ghibli's movies are always sentimental, emotional, dramatic and fun, all at once.When Marnie was There is no exception. The film is based on Joan G. Robinson's children eponymous book published in 1967. The story is really lovely, and goes in a full circle to explore the feelings of alienation, angst, lovelessness and loneliness of the main character, Anna, a tomboy girl who hates herself and her life and has bouts of asthma out of stress. Most of the story occurs in her relatives' country house, where Anna's auntie and foster mother sends her to see if she recovers her health and joy for life. There, in this remote and pristine area of Japan, in an abandoned house, she meets the almost-Disney girly girl blonde Marnie, who becomes her best friend and does the miracle of opening Anna's heart to love. Kids and teens who experience this sense of abandonment, loneliness and alienation, will certainly connect with Anna's struggle to be herself, to open up and overcome her fear of rejection, and to opening to love, romantic and non romantic. Adults will love the magic realism of the film, the inexplicable synchronicity that leads to the end, and the overall spicy sweetness of the story. My mixed feelings about the film rely on the apparently queer relationship of the two teens. This wouldn't be a problem if the story didn't end as it ends, or the story was one with explicit queer love. I haven't read the book, so I don't know whether the relationship was expressed the same in the novel or not, but it was a distraction for me. For young queers trying to find their identity and fit in the world, the film will be a thrill, but for those who aren't it will be mostly a what-is-this-doing-here? moment. If Ghibli wanted to explore that part, great, no problem, but if that is the case I expect the story to be open about it, clearer about it, the characters to be related differently and the movie to end differently. I think part of the problem with the lack of success of the film it is just the apparent lack of inner congruency.I felt that Sayaka was a wonderful character to explore, but we barely get to know her. The same can be said about Anna's hosts the Oiwa, who are truly a funny interesting couple, and of the character of Marnie's childhood friend and paintress Oisako. On the other hand, the story is mostly an exploration of Anna's character, and the film does so perfectly well.Overall, this is a beautiful movie to watch with many layers of meaning and interpretation. Not a movie for children unless under supervision, and more for young adults and adults.

Based on a popular children's novel from Joan G. Robinson, this anime film from Japan's celebrated Studio Ghibli transposes the setting from Norfolk, England to modern Japan, and tells the story of lonely 12 year old Anna who is sent to live with relatives in the country for the summer for the good of her health, after she suffers an asthma attack at school. She soon becomes fascinated by an old mansion nearby, and Marnie, the strange girl who lives there. This may well be the final Studio Ghibli film, and if so, while it may not be among the very best of Studio Ghibli, then this is still a fantastic note to go out on. This is a visually stunning film, with a heartfelt and affecting story about friendship and family. I would say that it might be disturbing for very young kids, because it is very dark in places. For anyone though, this is a beautiful, heartwarming film, that is sure to bring some tears by the end.I just hope that this is not the end for Ghibli.