JFF16 - Bunny Drop

うさぎドロップ Sabu (Hiroyuki Tanaka), 2011

As I wrote before, this year’s Japanese Film Festival program boasted an abundance of tear-jerking dramas and love stories. During volunteer shifts I had to opportunity to test the limits of my endurance with several of these films, but Bunny Drop was one I actively went after (as did many: it sold out), for no other reason than it stars Japan’s most famous child actress Mana Ashida. The unbelievably adorable Mana-Chan was all over Japanese TV when I was there this time last year, singing, dancing and charming everyone on variety shows and New Year’s specials. Her acting resume continues to snowball, both on TV and in film, and I was surprised to learn, she actually is a pretty amazing actress.

Adhering to the Japanese Film Industry’s now unshakeable Manga-Anime-Live Action sequence of adaptation, Bunny Drop is about a family who discovers that their recently deceased Grandfather had a six year old daughter that none of them knew about. How they failed to notice this (for six years, at that!) is either a testament to Mana-Chan’s hide-and-seek skills, or more likely, a damning comment on how we should all visit our grandparents more often. Anyway, with the six year-old Rin now fatherless and the mother seemingly out of the picture, thirty year-old, single office worker Daikichi, much to his family’s shock, volunteers somewhat naïvely, to raise his six year-old Aunty.

It’s a pretty conventional story, filled with coming-of-age/suddenly-a-parent/odd-couple plot devices and clichés, but I thought the film was a satisfying little one, thanks mostly due to the main actors, Mana Ashida and Kenichi Matsuyama. They work together very well, but it’s Mana-Chan who steals the show. Her performance, growing from quiet, shy orphan to bright and lively youngster is a strong and quite believable one, which for me, was never too sickly sweet (although I’m sure some would argue against that). The film was however, surprisingly free of conflict. It feels very “Safe” the whole time. It’s made clear that Daikichi makes sacrifices at work, but these don’t seem to affect him negatively at all. In fact, giving up his desk job to work in the shipping warehouse results in him making friends who are more fun and reliable than the suits upstairs. Rin has trouble making friends at kindergarten, but it’s almost an annoying inclusion, as we know that no-one could resist that face for long. And if that wasn’t enough, Daikichi even manages to get reasonably cosy with a young model love interest, without even trying! It’s almost like this movie comes equipped with a free safety net. Sub plots that would normally carry huge weight, including a visit from a Child Welfare worker and the tracking down of Rin’s biological mother are dealt with quickly and without mess, and surprisingly even without tears. The underdone nature of such sub-plots results in an exceedingly linear film with very few peaks and troughs. Rin and Daikichi’s relationship is one of unnaturally constant understanding, with little to no scolding, discipline or even “I’m never speaking to you again!” or “You’re not my real father!” moments, which could easily be expected in this type of film.

While this might all sound like huge criticism, I never actually found myself bored while watching the film. It’s definitely not perfect, it’s not particularly original, and it won’t change your life, but it’s just an easy, nice, heart-warming story. And it is for these reasons which I’m sure just as many people will hate it as those who love it. Maybe I’m just star struck by the pint-sized Mana-Chan, whose screen presence is undeniable, but I still enjoyed this movie and I don’t care who knows it.

From Up On Poppy Hill

コクリコ坂から Goro Miyazaki, 2011
Reel Anime 1/4
 

Madman's ReelAnime 2012 has kicked off around Australia, showcasing four new anime films direct from Japan. ReelAnime doesn't happen every year, I think the last time was 2010, so when it comes around it's pretty exciting, especially with a line up that looks as good as this year's. The two standout films are most definitely going to be the new Studio Ghibli film From Up On Poppy Hill directed by Goro Miyazaki, and Wolf Children, the new work by Mamoru Hosoda, a director whose work has succeeded in surpassing anything Ghibli has done since Howl's Moving Caslte. My guess is that From Up On Poppy Hill will remain the major audience draw-card however, simply for the fact that it is a Studio Ghibli Film. This hypothesis was proven last night when I saw it at Cinema Nova, where the theatre was almost completely full with both adults and children.

This film had a bit riding on it for me. There are two reasons for this: One, the last Ghibli movie Arriety was not amazing. It was nice, but quite underwhelming. Two, the last Goro Miyazaki film Tales From Earthsea, which was also his directorial debut, is almost universally considered to be the worst Ghibli movie yet made. I didn't think it was an absolute failure, but like Arriety, there was just a huge lack of Ghibli magic. It must be difficult for Goro being the son of one the greatest directors of all time, animation or otherwise, Hayao Miyazaki. It's an enormous shadow to live in, but the good news is that From Up On Poppy Hill is a fairly good sign that Goro is finding his way as a director, and also that Studio Ghibli is still an important force in the animation world.

The film is set in Yokohama 1963. The 60s was a period of rapid economic development for Japan, but also one of great change and confusion following war and American occupation. The film captures this quite perfectly in that there are many instances where the film doesn't feel very Japanese at all. The presence of Coca-Cola and television, along with characters breaking from traditional roles (one is a painter, one travels abroad for study) serve to create a Japan at a crossroads. A time and place that I'm sure carries a great nostalgic power for Japanese people, one only has to look at the enormous success of the sickly sweet Always films, but for me, this was a place that seemed to exist outside of time or place, and all the more so because it was animated. I think this is what makes for the most successful aspect of Poppy Hill. 

Ghibli has produced a few coming of age stories set in modern day Japan, Whisper of The Heart and Only Yesterday, and Poppy Hill sticks to this pretty familiar formula, probably a bit too closely, actually. Umi is a teenage girl who lives in a boarding house on a hill with a bunch of women from all walks of life. Despite her age and school commitments, Umi looks cooks and cleans for all the residents and just generally runs the house, which is owned by her grandmother Keiko. At school, Umi becomes friends with a boy named Shun, who, along with his friends, are protesting the destruction of their style clubhouse. And so begins a story of young love and student politics. Unfortunately, the film is never surprising. We know how it will end and how the obstacles will be overcome, which is a shame, because the film's main plot twist deals with unexpectedly mature issues that are quite interesting given the historical context, but are hastily resolved without issue by the film's end.

Like most Japanese films set in the post-war era, Poppy Hill addresses the "Out with the old, in with the new" dictum that so propelled Japan into the modern era, and It's great to see this from a teenage student point of view. Teenagers don't know who they are or what they want to be as is, but throw them into a social environment still reeling from the effects of war while simultaneously hurtling into the future, the results are quite moving and sometimes hilarious. The school clubhouse stands as a strong if somewhat clichéd metaphor for the loss of history/tradition, but it's design is classic Ghibli. A dark, dusty building full of old junk, that is inhabited by exuberant youths with dreams of changing the world. Throughout the film, the students express a reverence for tradition and integrity that belies their age, while also keeping their sights fixed firmly on the future. In one small scene, the only two remaining members of the Archaeology club are driven to go out and recruit new members rather than sit around contemplating the loss of their clubhouse, exclaiming that they owe it to those who came before them. It seems that Goro shares his father's oft-included themes of loss of culture and also his penchant for female leads. The Kokuriko boarding house is occupied solely by modern young females, while Keiko, the lady of the house, is a kimono-clad symbol of an old Japan quickly fading.

The film's soundtrack was the thing I had the most issues with. Poppy Hill boasts an incredibly jumbled array of poorly executed musical styles, many of which are mismatched to the onscreen visuals. It ranges from plaintive piano music (a mainstay of Studio Ghibli and always done infinitely better by regular collaborator Joe Hisaishi) to Go-go style organ grooves to playful horn-driven jazz which accompanies the cleaning of the clubhouse, one of the rare moments that worked. Ghibli films usually include one or two beautiful vocal pieces that are inserted effortlessly into the film, often over the opening or closing credits, but Poppy Hill's vocal pieces felt quite underdone. Much more successful is the inclusion of the students singing what I'm guessing are nationalistic/school songs acapella to raise morale, and Kyu Sakamoto's pop song 上を向いて歩こう (I Shall Walk Looking Up) which is known in the west as "Sukiyaki" thanks to what was probably an unbelievably lazy/ignorant translation. This hugely popular song was released in the year the film is set, and adds the kind of era-specific detail the soundtrack seemed to be attempting to recreate, but ultimately failed at with its soulless rehashing of 60s music styles. The scenes in which "Sukiyaki" is included are the scenes which really soar, conveying the kind of magic Ghibli has become famous for. Unfortunately, Goro is not able to sustain this magic for the whole film in the way Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle do, but the mere fact that there is glimpses of it is enough to make me hopeful for his future works.

I had reasonably low expectations for Poppy Hill, and was pleasantly surprised. The story isn't anything amazingly original, and you can see the ending coming a mile off, but it is quite heartfelt. It doesn't approach anything daddy Miyazaki has done, apart from the visuals, which are absolutely beautiful, but that is something for which Ghibli can always be relied on. All in all, it is a good addition to the less fantasy oriented titles in the Ghibli library, and while he still has some way to go, it is a solid new effort from Goro Miyazaki.