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Back in 1988 a truly remarkable moment in cinema occurred. In order to secure funding the fledgling Studio Ghibli took on the seemingly impossible task of making two films at the same time, with Hayao Miyazaki helming one and his colleague Isao Takahata helming the other. Despite being stretched nearly to breaking point the studio not only achieved the impossible, but exceeded it by creating the two greatest anime films of all time - Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbour Totoro. Isao Takahata's harrowing Grave of the
Fireflies was one of Optimum Asia's first anime releases, and now we also get to
see its companion piece, and what a companion it is. |
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My Neighbour Totoro is a breathtaking piece of film-making which is often referred to as Hayao Miyazaki's best film - a very high accolade indeed. Unusually though for such a highly acclaimed film there isn't really that much of a story. Basically a father and his two young daughters Satsuki and Mei move to the countryside in order to be closer to the girls' mother, who is in hospital recovering from an unspecified illness. Satsuki and Mei spend their time exploring their new home, which leads to a chance encounter with the gentle forest spirit Totoro and sparks the beginning of a magical summer as they wait for their mother to come home and get better. |
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There is a real magic to the film, not because of the bear-like Totoro or the (slightly terrifying) Catbus, but because of the impact it has. Nothing really happens, apart from the 4 year old Mei getting lost trying to walk to the hospital, and many of the scenes are extremely minimalist, with long periods of silence adding to their understated impact. For example the best scene in the film consists of Satsuki and Mei waiting for a bus in the rain, and being joined by Totoro. There's only a few words spoken but it doesn't matter, it's a perfect vignette of the wide-eyed joy of discovery delivered in a beautiful way. I know that saying things like this make the film sound kind |
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of arty but whilst it can be viewed on that level it is never dry or pretentious. In fact, it's an unbridled joy to watch. Miyazaki lets his imagination run free in this film but grounds it with reality - the children's mother's illness, the rainy days, tantrums and the worry when Mei goes missing. He creates a realistic world and puts the fantastic into it without patronising the audience and leaves the question of whether Totoro is real or not unanswered. On top of this he makes a really enjoyable film, which benefits from great music and dubs, although the children's American accents and the English versions of the theme songs do grate a bit to start with. The fact that this is the only vague negative I can possibly raise about this film is very telling though, and goes some way to proving the film's quality. Simply put I can't possibly imagine anyone disliking this film. It's hugely enjoyable despite not much actually happening, and works on many levels, whether as a fantasy film for children or a reminder to adults of simpler times. Maybe this is the magic of the film, or maybe it's Miyazaki's attention to detail, or the awesome music from Joe Hisaishi - second only to his Laputa, Castle in the Sky score. Whatever the reason is, My Neighbour Totoro is Miyazaki at the peak of his powers. The film is a work of stunning vision which will bring back fond memories of childhood in older viewers and will captivate the young with its sheer imagination. It's this wide appeal that makes it the greatest family film of all time, bar none. Extras: As usual for Optimum's Ghibli Collection, we have original Japanese trailers, a Ghibli Collection trailer reel and full storyboards, alongside clean opening and ending sequences which happily have subtitles in both English and Romanised Japanese. This means that not only can you sing along to the English lyrics but also to the Japanese ones! Altogether now 'Tonari no Totoro, Totoro...' Ratings Feature:
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