My Neighbor Totoro ***
Hayao Miyazaki, 1988
Japan
@ Northwest Film Forum
Deeply odd, but in a particularly beautiful way. There is no real conflict here between selfish humanity and benevolent nature, nor any traditional conflict at all. The children get sad, and the king of the forest cheers them up.
One thing that really stuck out to me was the bizarrely long commute the father had sentenced himself to in order to move his family to their country home. I didn't sense much of a critique here, though it might be implied by the hardship on the girls as they wait for hours at the bus stop or try to run off to visit their mother in the hospital.
Rather than just quirky, Miyazaki seems to have a fully formed "other" sensibility that runs according to its own logic. As one who often gets frustrated by what I see as limited flights of fancy, an inability to really get outside traditional Hollywood norms and values, this commitment to working in what appears to be a parallel universe is admirable.
See also: IMDb
Hayao Miyazaki, 1988
Japan
@ Northwest Film Forum
Deeply odd, but in a particularly beautiful way. There is no real conflict here between selfish humanity and benevolent nature, nor any traditional conflict at all. The children get sad, and the king of the forest cheers them up.
One thing that really stuck out to me was the bizarrely long commute the father had sentenced himself to in order to move his family to their country home. I didn't sense much of a critique here, though it might be implied by the hardship on the girls as they wait for hours at the bus stop or try to run off to visit their mother in the hospital.
Rather than just quirky, Miyazaki seems to have a fully formed "other" sensibility that runs according to its own logic. As one who often gets frustrated by what I see as limited flights of fancy, an inability to really get outside traditional Hollywood norms and values, this commitment to working in what appears to be a parallel universe is admirable.
See also: IMDb
Labels: 1980s, 3 Stars, Hayao Miyazaki, Japan
1 Comments:
I think you've hit on what makes Totoro one of my very favorite movies: the absence of conflict allows Miyazaki to simply put his artistry on display without worrying about the trappings of plot. And in addition to visual artistry, which Miyazaki does very well, this "other" sensibility that you reference is probably the real artistry on display. I take it as a peculiar use of the fantastic to emphasize the sublime aspects of reality.
*Note: I'm short on time, so was unable to edit the above for pretentiousness. Apologies.
Post a Comment
<< Home