Kiki's Delivery Service
Apr. 22nd, 2004 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timepiececlockI made vanilla pudding tonight. It was lumpy. I prefer my pudding to be a homogenous, even mixture, when given the option. Like mashed potatoes. But otherwise it was sweet and warm and tasted like real vanilla pudding.
I also watched Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) this evening. One of the few directed by Hayao Miyazaki that I still hadn't seen. I have to say, that's the most adorable movie I've watched since... since the last time I watched a Hayao Miyazaki film. They just don't get more adorable or clever than Hayao Miyazaki movies.
Wow. Kirsten Dundst is the voice. What'd'ya know. I didn't recognize her.
I think of all of his I've seen so far, I'd place this fourth on my Miyazaki favorites list-- I liked it better than My Neighbor Totoro or Laputa: Castle in the Sky, but not as well as Princess Mononoke, Castle of Cagliostro, or Spirited Away. The only animated film that I've seen that I would say sits at the same level as Spirited Away as far as ability to move me emotionally, wow me visually, and convey a message I actually agree with is that rarely-seen, utterly charming and also utterly heartbreaking little film called The Iron Giant. You know, with the spacey kid and the Mulder-on-Acid!-FBI-agent. That was one of the few animated family films that ever made me come close to crying.
But back to Kiki's. As usual, lots of flying. Miyazaki seems to have a love for the visuals of aerial movement... in nearly every film there is a scene or multiple scenes of people or objects flying. In SpirAw it was Haku, the dragon. In Laputa it was the castle. you know, in the sky. And airplanes. In Mononoke it was the way the Forest God took over the sky after losing his head and in Cagliostro it was the many airplanes and wall-climbing; these being only 2 films on the list above that are meant for PG-13 and above, not the whole family.
In Kiki's, it was a young witch flying her broomstick. Through city traffic, across waters and forests, under tunnels and way high and far away. There was also the climax with the derigible that crashed spectacularly. The animation for the flight scenes was wonderfully imagined... the illusion of weight and air movement affecting the characters and objects was superb-- this was no easy Harry Potter spin around the Quiddich pitch; it actually used quite a bit of cause & effect and Kiki got thrown around a lot when she stopped paying attention for even a moment. Not to mention wind shear.
The characters in this film were, as usual, lovable, sensitive, and human-- at their best and worst. Kiki, who is a 13-year-old village witch who moves to a large city to begin her year-away-from-home training, has to adapt to city life and manages to cycle through delight, disappointment, depression, happiness, anger, loneliness, and eventually confidence as she learns about the real world and meets people who delight her and people who disappoint her.
I loved the baker's husband, with his random little tricks to impress the cat. And I loved the boy, Tombo, for being such a sweetie and seeking Kiki out even when she ignored him on a whim as 13 year olds are prone to do. And I loved Kiki as a protagonist, for trying to be confident and optimistic despite some of her illusions about city life being stomped by reality. Kiki is a very different character than Chihiro of Spirited Away; where Chihiro was more cynical at a younger age and tended toward laziness, Kiki was overly optimistic and an industrious worker.
The animation of course was beautiful... though it's clear that Miyazaki's budget only gets bigger the further into the future you go, with later films like Mononoke and SpirAw. That's not a surprise, considering he's the biggest film director in Japan and his movies make more box-office sales than anyone else's.
Sometimes I wish we could see these films on television here. Why don't we have ABC or CBS or Fox throw out next year's sure-to-be-lame thanksgiving holiday TV movie and show one of these instead? It's likely to be more interesting and more educationally valuable. Although this is certainly less emotionally arresting, less violent, and less dramatic than Mononoke or Spirited Away, it's themes are nonetheless universal and intelligently and subtly conveyed. I highly reccomend it.
I also watched Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) this evening. One of the few directed by Hayao Miyazaki that I still hadn't seen. I have to say, that's the most adorable movie I've watched since... since the last time I watched a Hayao Miyazaki film. They just don't get more adorable or clever than Hayao Miyazaki movies.
Wow. Kirsten Dundst is the voice. What'd'ya know. I didn't recognize her.
I think of all of his I've seen so far, I'd place this fourth on my Miyazaki favorites list-- I liked it better than My Neighbor Totoro or Laputa: Castle in the Sky, but not as well as Princess Mononoke, Castle of Cagliostro, or Spirited Away. The only animated film that I've seen that I would say sits at the same level as Spirited Away as far as ability to move me emotionally, wow me visually, and convey a message I actually agree with is that rarely-seen, utterly charming and also utterly heartbreaking little film called The Iron Giant. You know, with the spacey kid and the Mulder-on-Acid!-FBI-agent. That was one of the few animated family films that ever made me come close to crying.
But back to Kiki's. As usual, lots of flying. Miyazaki seems to have a love for the visuals of aerial movement... in nearly every film there is a scene or multiple scenes of people or objects flying. In SpirAw it was Haku, the dragon. In Laputa it was the castle. you know, in the sky. And airplanes. In Mononoke it was the way the Forest God took over the sky after losing his head and in Cagliostro it was the many airplanes and wall-climbing; these being only 2 films on the list above that are meant for PG-13 and above, not the whole family.
In Kiki's, it was a young witch flying her broomstick. Through city traffic, across waters and forests, under tunnels and way high and far away. There was also the climax with the derigible that crashed spectacularly. The animation for the flight scenes was wonderfully imagined... the illusion of weight and air movement affecting the characters and objects was superb-- this was no easy Harry Potter spin around the Quiddich pitch; it actually used quite a bit of cause & effect and Kiki got thrown around a lot when she stopped paying attention for even a moment. Not to mention wind shear.
The characters in this film were, as usual, lovable, sensitive, and human-- at their best and worst. Kiki, who is a 13-year-old village witch who moves to a large city to begin her year-away-from-home training, has to adapt to city life and manages to cycle through delight, disappointment, depression, happiness, anger, loneliness, and eventually confidence as she learns about the real world and meets people who delight her and people who disappoint her.
I loved the baker's husband, with his random little tricks to impress the cat. And I loved the boy, Tombo, for being such a sweetie and seeking Kiki out even when she ignored him on a whim as 13 year olds are prone to do. And I loved Kiki as a protagonist, for trying to be confident and optimistic despite some of her illusions about city life being stomped by reality. Kiki is a very different character than Chihiro of Spirited Away; where Chihiro was more cynical at a younger age and tended toward laziness, Kiki was overly optimistic and an industrious worker.
The animation of course was beautiful... though it's clear that Miyazaki's budget only gets bigger the further into the future you go, with later films like Mononoke and SpirAw. That's not a surprise, considering he's the biggest film director in Japan and his movies make more box-office sales than anyone else's.
Sometimes I wish we could see these films on television here. Why don't we have ABC or CBS or Fox throw out next year's sure-to-be-lame thanksgiving holiday TV movie and show one of these instead? It's likely to be more interesting and more educationally valuable. Although this is certainly less emotionally arresting, less violent, and less dramatic than Mononoke or Spirited Away, it's themes are nonetheless universal and intelligently and subtly conveyed. I highly reccomend it.
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Date: 2004-04-22 10:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 10:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-22 10:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 04:28 am (UTC)I haven't seen Castle of Cagliostro, I will someday though~ *vows*
no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 04:54 am (UTC)Have you ever spoken (Internet/LJ wise that is) to a LJ user called JazzPolice? He's a friend of mine and Hils...
no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 08:47 am (UTC)I really, really loved Cagliostro. I was never much into the Lupin tv series (seen 2 eps) so I was wary of the movie, but while watching it I was in love. The dialogue! It's so... movie-ish. In fact the dialogue in Cagliostro was the best I've seen in any anime film. I watched it in dubbed with subtitles. Then I went back and rewatched some scenes in Japanese. I liked the dub quite a bit-- the voice of Lupin is Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi, if you've ever seen that series.
Anyway, I could talk about this movie all day. I loved it. I watched it and became a Lupin/Fujiko shipper. I have a little crush on the chain-cigar smoking gunman Jigo or whatever his name is. Just... watch it. It's extremely entertaining.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 08:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-23 12:23 pm (UTC)I hope it'll be Cagliostro, though I'm also curious about Porco Rosso, should it win.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-24 10:26 am (UTC)