#Gentle Guitar#
Isla: “First of all, making a film about a 4 year old boy was a challenge in itself.
Is a 4 year old male protagonist feasible in a film
for not only children but people of all ages?
There are a rare few with girls
but hardly any with a boy...
that’s why I thought this would be a unique movie,
a kind that you’ve never seen before”
And without a shadow of a doubt Mamoru Hosoda
has made a film the likes of which you’ve never seen before
striking a balance between his love of family bonds
and his ever growing, ever awe inspiring direction.
...
My name is Isla and this is my review of Studio Chizu’s Mirai.
#Gentle guitar#
#Theme of Mirai#
This film follows the life of a family focused through the eyes of Kun,
a little boy obsessed with trains
and an angel in the mind of his parents.
However soon he is forced to lose their soul affection
as they bring baby Mirai into the world and he just can’t accept she exists
so we take a trip through their life,
centered in the house Kun’s dad built
and in their magical backyard
our wee protagonist goes on an adventure
with his grow up sister from the future,
travels to the past to meet his mother as a girl
and encounters his great grandad as a young man
and through these fanciful tales Kun learns a couple of valuable lessons,
starts to think differently
and most importantly of all takes a few baby steps towards being a big brother.
JP to ENG Music Trans: "My Baby Girl"
JP to ENG Music Trans: Cute! Cute! You nestle up against me
JP to ENG Trans: Hug! Hug!
Hosada’s movies always stand out but this time a little older
and more refined he’s managed to create his most beautiful animation work to date.
Everything feels crisper and smoother
with his animation taken to new heights.
As the whole movie is focused on Kun’s house
Hosoda had to come up with creative ways to move the camera from scene to scene
there is a particular moment between Miari of the future and her dad
that feels dynamic although its all set in their tiny kitchen.
Hosada even manages to turn CG on its head
with his animation team producing a whole host of scenes that feel better for its inclusion
like the whirlpool of fish
and the lost and found man.
Of course the CG isn’t perfect
and it was a little overdone in areas
but not enough to detract from what a gorgeous spectacle this film becomes
However like all Hosada’s work it’s beautiful because it has substance.
#Soft emotive Piano
I love A Girl Who Leapt Through Time
I still think Summer Wars is his greatest work,
Wolf Children is breathtaking
and Boy and the Beast packs a punch
but Mirai...is his most relatable work to date.
In most cases when you’re a kid your whole world revolves around your family,
they are your everything
and Hosada uses this perspective to paint a bigger picture of family life
because in reality the people we understand the least are the ones that brought us up.
We flip through photo albums of our mums life,
hear stories of our dads youth
but in actuality we didn’t live through any of it
and it's the events of our parents past that have shaped who they are today.
Stop me if this sounds familiar -
they just don’t understand me!!
a phrase I barked many times in my teenage years
but if we flip it around maybe I didn’t understand my parents.
So how nice it would be to have a secret garden
where I could be transported through the lifemap of my families past
and dip into the moments that defined each of them.
Because without realising it
everything that our parents,
our parents parents
and our parents parents parents have done
brought us to this moment.
This future.
This Mirai.
#Soft Orchestral Music#
I don’t think this movie is faultless,
there are a few indescrepencies in its plot,
it may not be as grand as Hosadas previous works
and dependent on your tastes you may be bored by its lack of action
but for me
it's refreshing to see how much Hosada has grow as a director,
his imagination never ceases to amaze me
how he can knit fantasy so seamlessly into the ordinary.
And with Mirai I’m still a bit overcome by how clearly foreshadowed it is
pay attention to...every...moment
because all the stories told in this anime are interconnected
in a myriad of different ways
from a passing comment
to what decorates the house.
#Sound Effect: Train whistle#
#Music: Music Train from Mirai#
Life is one big never ending cycle
and our family...our individual lives are all one small part of that.
As we grow up we look to the past and think of how great it was,
we remember the ones we have loved...and lost
but as a child we only ever look forward
so in some final words from Hosada I hope you enjoy….
#Music: Music Train from Mirai#