Arrietty

In his directorial debut, Studio Ghibli’s core animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi proved to be a more promising choice to carry on his mentor’s legacy than Miyazaki’s son Goró (who had previously had a prosperous career in another area and his entry into the field of animation comes across too much like an order from his father so that the company would have a blood descendent). The Secret World of Arrietty perfectly draws the audience into a world full of wonderful details and brilliantly conveys to us the perspective of the characters, particularly the title heroine. The sequences when she first sets out into the world of people in order to borrow things comprise the highlight of the film and brilliantly present the protagonist’s wonder to the audience. In terms of narrative, the film lacks the breadth and epic nature of the films made by the master Miyazaki, and that lack can be seen as both a weakness and a strength. After all, everything is seen from the perspective of the tiny borrowers, namely just the single heroine and her parents. The open ending then adequately indicates the grand promises of a world that, with a change of scale, can suddenly be so large and immeasurable. Despite a number of adventurous and comical escapades, melancholy remains the overarching motif of the film. Learning about the beauty and fascinating details of the world alternates with a sweet sorrow over their fleetingness, where we can be warmed by the belief that they persist in our immediate surroundings even though they are hidden from our view. But as the adolescent Sho bitterly learns, beauty is too fragile and often has a life of its own that people should not interfere with, despite their good intentions. Unlike Hayao Miyazaki’s boisterous frescoes, which are literally elevated by motifs tied to flying and unbridled imagination, The Secret World of Arrietty offers an essentially intimate narrative of miniature proportions, where we marvel at the small details. (18.05.2014)

As expected from Studio Ghibli, the setting was magical. The music was fitting, you can easily fall into melancholy with it. As for the character design – obvious Ghibli, where in each character you see a little bit of the others (both those that have already seen the light of day and possible future ones). It's a nice story for children; adults will see something more in it. All in all, a nice fairy tale, tailor-made for kids – if I had any, I'd love to play this one for them. Unfortunately, it wasn't my thing at all. In fact, I felt terribly cheated at the end, as if I hadn't seen the whole story. My reaction at the end wasn't "oh, that was nice", but "that's all?". It was so distracting to my final impression that I have to give it 3 stars, but it's a very good 3 stars. (22.09.2013)

The Secret World of Arrietty reminded me a lot of Miyazaki's My Neighbour Totoro, in which two worlds, the human and the fantasy, clash when people moved into a new house (in Totoro it was two girls and their father, here it was young Shô). In both cases, it is a nice film with beautiful animation and a fairly simple story in which two worlds are confronted and relationships are established. In short, a nice film from a Japanese production in which the imprint and touch of Studio Ghibli is very clearly felt. (27.06.2016)