A Studio Ghibli Update- "From Up On Poppy Hill"

It's no secret that I am a devoted fan of Studio Ghibli and all the wonderful movies it puts out. So when I heard about From Up On Poppy Hill, I was excited to give it a try. I can't really do a review of this movie, though, because I could only get about forty-five minutes into it-I really didn't enjoy it! The first turn-off was definitely the music; Joe Hisaishi composes the music for all the Studio Ghibli films that I like, and his music is incredible- it's such a strong component and adds such depth and beauty to the films. The music in this wasn't written by Hisaishi though, and from the beginning I could tell that the music wasn't as good. It didn't really lend anything to the scenes and it sounded very gimmicky and done. Unoriginal. 

I would include a summary of the movie, but I didn't even really understand what it was about: there wasn't any clear conflict or catalyst for the plot. It was just following this Japanese highschooler named Umi, who lived at a hotel or something, and her budding romance with this other highschool dude. Likeeeeeee, so what? There wasn't really any depth or dynamic to the characters; nothing that made me care about them at all. And it just kind of lowered the bar for the movie to make it about a romance; that alone can't really constitute a plot. Don't get me wrong, because if you consider it basically all of the Hayao Miyazaki movies I've seen are romances, but it's not obvious; it's not about a romance. The plots are about something bigger, and the romance is even more of a friendship, which takes place on a deeper level than a romance. I didn't feel like this movie really stood for anything, even though it seemed to be about the changes in Japan after WW2. That was too obvious, not enough of an idea and more of an observation, whereas in other Studio Ghibli movies they bring up many ideas and points of view on things: they can be dissected, you can discuss them. 

I also didn't get the sense of a world in this movie. The great thing about Miyazaki movies is that they create these interesting, fantastical worlds, even the ones that are supposed to be realistic. They feel different, like a parallel universe that has just a touch of magic in it. That's really what it comes down to. This film was missing the magic of Studio Ghibli movies. It didn't entrance me, it didn't make me want to watch it again and again because every single scene was so beautiful and poignant. It makes me sad, I guess, because I love Miyazakis so much, and yet it seems that the more recent movies have lost some of their originality and genius; they're more mass market and less personal. I think I need to go watch Porco Rosso now just to restore my faith in Studio Ghibli.


PS-- I didn't make it through the whole movie, so maybe some of it picked up later on, but I think that it says something if I don't want to watch the whole thing.