She holds up well alongside the other willful girl characters in Ghibli's stable, yet Anna's introverted personality fills a gap - a gap which many kids (and adults) could readily identify with. While Hollywood is content with making sure that its few young-girl lead characters are molded from a generically sassy blueprint (I'm thinking specifically of the girl from DreamWorks' Home, but any number of other movies - animated and not - would apply), Anna in this film emerges as a notably unique creation.
What makes Marnie different - even amongst Ghibli's exalted output - lies in having a strong-willed introvert as the main character. Despite an ending that can be telegraphed from a mile away, the emotional interplay between Marnie and Anna has a surprisingly potent, lump-in-your-throat poignance. It goes without saying that the animation is breathtaking, its dreamy atmosphere complemented by the lyrical musical score, which handily makes up for the story's shortcomings.
When marnie was there amazon movie#
While some might find the first half of this movie irritating - scene after scene demonstrating that Anna is basically a passive wimp - a huge payoff comes with the arrival of ethereal Marnie and her calming presence. Along the way, Anna has an emotional reunion with Marnie, while the random things seen in the seaside community - a mute oarsman, a wizened artist, and creepy abandoned silo on a nearby hilltop - become crystal clear to Anna.Īlthough it was adapted from a British novel published in 1967, When Marnie Was There traffics in a lot of the same themes present in current shojo anime and manga aimed at girls - a romantic yearning for times long ago, and the idea that two seemingly different people are destined to come together through fate. With the help of Sayaka (Ave Acres), a girl now living in Marnie's home, Anna finds out that her intense connection with Marnie goes deeper than she ever realized. One day, she notices that Marnie's home has been renovated.
Venturing over to the house, she finds an ethereal blonde girl wearing an old-fashioned dress - Marnie (Kiernan Shipka) - who breaks through Anna's reserved shell with her spirited thirst for adventure.Īs the story unfolds, Anna becomes aware of odd things about Marnie, such as how she can't go out at certain times and has limited mobility. Although Anna's relatives offer her lots of freedom and the lovely weather improves her asthma, the girl still has a nagging restlessness - until she becomes drawn to an old, Western-style mansion built overlooking the bay. After the withdrawn, self-loathing kid becomes physically ill, the mother decides to send Anna off to recuperate at a marshy, rural enclave where the girl's jovial uncle (John C. Voiced on the film's English soundtrack by Hailee Steinfeld, Anna Sasaki is portrayed as a bright, talented twelve year-old who nevertheless fails to relate with anyone else - not her gossipy classmates, not even her concerned adoptive mother (Geena Davis). The movie offers up the kind of classy, non-patronizing stuff that Ghibli fans expect, suffused with enough different flair to make one wistful for what's likely to be the studio's final feature.Īt heart, When Marnie Was There deals with the friendship that develops between two young girls - one's an introvert trying to make sense of her place in a cruel world, while the other is a free, generous spirit. Thoughtfully directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi ( The Secret World of Arrietty), this sweet story is solidly Ghibli-like, with fully fleshed-out characters in a gorgeously rendered, earthbound yet magical setting.
The animation giants at Studio Ghibli bowed out in a surprisingly subtle way with the charming friendship tale When Marnie Was There. Please Note: The screen shots used here are taken from the DVD portion of When Marnie Was There.
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