Home late on a Saturday, I was a little concerned I wasn’t going to get a post in on time, but it looks like we’re scraping in just before the deadline. Future weekend posts should be more elaborate, saved for the big themes, but tonight I’m just going to write a quick recommendation.
Most Studio Ghibli films get a lot of love, even outside “anime circles,” in the U.S., but I think Goro Miyazaki‘s 2011 From Up on Poppy Hill doesn’t get enough attention. Based Kokuriko-zaka kara, an ’80s manga by Tetsuo Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi, Poppy Hill is Goro’s second production after his poorly received Tales from Earthsea, an adaptation of some of Ursula Le Guin‘s Earthsea series.
Goro is the son of legendary creator Hayao Miyazaki who I am endeavoring not to discuss until I have exhausted a few other topics. I haven’t seen Tales from Earthsea so I only know it by reputation, but Poppy Hill has garnered none of the ill will of its predecessors.
Poppy Hill was released in the U.S. by GKIDS in March 2013. While Disney still handled the U.S. releases of most Ghibli films at this point, they weren’t interested in Poppy Hill. Ghibli and Disney had an agreement that no cuts would be made in U.S. releases, and there is some subject matter that Disney wasn’t comfortable with. Discussing much of this would give away some key plot points, but suffice it to say, I think it’s all handled in a sensitive, family friendly manner.
Poppy Hill is set in seaside Yokohama in 1963. Japan is undergoing an economic boom and preparing for the 1964 Olympics. Umi Matsuzaki is a high school girl who helps maintain the family home/boarding house. One of the core themes of the movie is modernization vs. tradition and recognizing how the two can co-habitat.
The story and music are great, and the characters are warm and charismatic in that uniquely Ghibli way. But what I really love about Poppy Hill is the art. Take a look at the Quartier Latin, a clubhouse at Umi’s school, below.
I can almost tell how that building smells, and that set piece is elaborately explored in consistent detail.
My one reservation about this suggestion is that I can’t tell you where to watch it legally. It’s available through Amazon, but it’s not streaming legally anywhere to my knowledge. Future recommendations will always be legally available online, ideally free. For now, though, I’m done. Until next time.
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