Post by klep on Jul 9, 2018 6:45:29 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 7/9: My Neighbor Totoro
HAPPY FILMS WEEK!
Children are people, which means they have the same feelings as the rest of us, and they feel just as deeply. What they don't have are the skills to deal with their feelings - the scar tissue and coping mechanisms adults have developed from years of harsh experience and therapy. So their feelings are expressed more openly and more fully.
Hayao Miyazaki has always understood this, and his 1988 feature My Neighbor Totoro shows it. When we first meet sisters Satsuki (Noriko Hidaka) and Mei (Chika Sakamoto), they are happy and excited moving to a new place in the country. At first it seems that they only have their father (Shigesato Itoi), but soon we learn that their mother (Sumi Shimamoto) is in a nearby hospital, and is the reason for the move.
The new home is a wonderful old country house; a mixture of both Western and traditional Japanese architecture that feels timeless. It's initially haunted by susuwatari - soot spirits, but rather than frightened the girls are delighted. Much of the movie is spent with the girls exploring their new surroundings, meeting people and most importantly meeting their neighbor Totoro - a large spirit living in a massive camphor tree next to their property. Wonderfully, the adults around them never doubt their stories, and seem to believe in the spirits as much as they do. All in all, it seems like a fairly idyllic summer.
Except for the gaping absence. The girls mention on occasion that their mother is coming home 'soon' - and it sounds a little like a mantra, like something they have said many times. Indeed the fact that they're moving to be close to the hospital suggests the true expectation is that their mother will be in it as much as she is out of it. Day-to-day it doesn't seem to bother the girls much, but news of a setback brings it all to the surface. Mei and Satsuki fight, and Mei runs off, sparking a frantic search.
But this is a happy film, without tragedy, and it has a happy ending. Mei is found, the sisters make up, and their mother eventually comes home. But Miyazaki shows us - and more importantly, shows children that their feelings are real, and valid. It's ok to be sad, and it's ok to be scared. Sometimes life isn't the perfect thing we want it to be and think adults can make it be. But there is still wonder and happiness in the world nonetheless, you need only be open to finding it.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 7/16: Attack the Block
SCIENCE FICTION WEEK!
When aliens invade a council estate in London, nobody is there to stop it except the residents who call it home. Join us next week as we watch this exciting film which launched a number of careers, including that of Star Wars star John Boyega and the new Doctor Jodie Whittaker. Attack the Block is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 7/10: Don't Look Now
Next week's podcast pairs the new Hereditary with this classic work of horror from Nicholas Roeg. Join us next week for our discussion of the film that Donald Sutherland meme came from! Don't Look Now is available for rent from Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
HAPPY FILMS WEEK!
Children are people, which means they have the same feelings as the rest of us, and they feel just as deeply. What they don't have are the skills to deal with their feelings - the scar tissue and coping mechanisms adults have developed from years of harsh experience and therapy. So their feelings are expressed more openly and more fully.
Hayao Miyazaki has always understood this, and his 1988 feature My Neighbor Totoro shows it. When we first meet sisters Satsuki (Noriko Hidaka) and Mei (Chika Sakamoto), they are happy and excited moving to a new place in the country. At first it seems that they only have their father (Shigesato Itoi), but soon we learn that their mother (Sumi Shimamoto) is in a nearby hospital, and is the reason for the move.
The new home is a wonderful old country house; a mixture of both Western and traditional Japanese architecture that feels timeless. It's initially haunted by susuwatari - soot spirits, but rather than frightened the girls are delighted. Much of the movie is spent with the girls exploring their new surroundings, meeting people and most importantly meeting their neighbor Totoro - a large spirit living in a massive camphor tree next to their property. Wonderfully, the adults around them never doubt their stories, and seem to believe in the spirits as much as they do. All in all, it seems like a fairly idyllic summer.
Except for the gaping absence. The girls mention on occasion that their mother is coming home 'soon' - and it sounds a little like a mantra, like something they have said many times. Indeed the fact that they're moving to be close to the hospital suggests the true expectation is that their mother will be in it as much as she is out of it. Day-to-day it doesn't seem to bother the girls much, but news of a setback brings it all to the surface. Mei and Satsuki fight, and Mei runs off, sparking a frantic search.
But this is a happy film, without tragedy, and it has a happy ending. Mei is found, the sisters make up, and their mother eventually comes home. But Miyazaki shows us - and more importantly, shows children that their feelings are real, and valid. It's ok to be sad, and it's ok to be scared. Sometimes life isn't the perfect thing we want it to be and think adults can make it be. But there is still wonder and happiness in the world nonetheless, you need only be open to finding it.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 7/16: Attack the Block
SCIENCE FICTION WEEK!
When aliens invade a council estate in London, nobody is there to stop it except the residents who call it home. Join us next week as we watch this exciting film which launched a number of careers, including that of Star Wars star John Boyega and the new Doctor Jodie Whittaker. Attack the Block is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 7/10: Don't Look Now
Next week's podcast pairs the new Hereditary with this classic work of horror from Nicholas Roeg. Join us next week for our discussion of the film that Donald Sutherland meme came from! Don't Look Now is available for rent from Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.