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Castle in the Sky is the film that I could not watch due to a parental block on my Playstation. Arg!!! Well fine, now I got other means to watch whatever I want ... so I'm allowed see kid's movies like this one, co-produced in USA by Disney, ironic. Anyhow, my stupid tech woes aside, this is another really lovely anime [via] by Hiyao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away). The story is a bit weak compared to his others, written for a younger audience maybe, but the artwork is unbelievable. Miyazaki has a knack for nature, and the grasses, trees and clouds in this film are simply stunning. The tale revolves around Laputa, a floating city in the sky that has been long abandoned and overrun with plants and trees. Huge, soft spoken robots are the only surviving inhabitants and they wander about the place growing moss and taking care of birds' nests. This is the most poignant and gripping aspect of the movie. I got a bit bored with the rest of the plot, but honestly I've never seen such a good-looking movie, so I dozed and let the pretty pictures transport me. |
More pics here. As you can see from what I wrote, I found it more exciting than you did. It's definitely a kid's movie, but the melancholy of the ruined civilization is very adult and quintessential Miyazaki. The Nausicaä re-release is set for Aug. 31--the delay has been ridiculous. Good Miyazaki fan site here.
I should also say that despite my lack of interest in the plot development, I loved the weird world in this film: all manner of crazy detailed flying machines, the over-endowed yet mannish pirate mother with fat pink pigtails, the cities situated in chasms. There was little set-up and no apology for this rampantly imaginative fantastic alt.reality. Also, there were occasional insertions of a radically different drawing-style, a more sketchy look, referring to engraving or woodcut, that was used to indicate the past, or a narrative stance outside the main action. I can't think of another instance where an animated movie has utilised drawinging styles as a narrative device. Nausicaä sounds amazing, can't wait.
The use of different, often antiquated drawing styles and especially in "slide show" format is an anime specialty. It's often done to create an emotional (nostalgic, elegiac) mood. Here's a brief rundown of the plot mechanics, which I feel strangely compelled to defend:
Girl has mystical, hereditary connection to floating cloud-city Laputa.
Boy's aeronaut father is killed "discovering" Laputa; boy is obsessed with re-"discovering" it.
Bad guy is another Laputan descendant; wants to find it to access its slumbering, potentially world-dominating tech.
Air-pirates are self-interested; they're only after treasure but are very dynamic about moving characters from one place to another. Also pretty funny--a dysfunctional family in the sky.
Plot is all about getting us to Laputa, establishing the conflicting motivations of the characters for wanting to be there. It does a serviceable job of this, with many exciting chases and fights. Early scenes of the superpowered, frighteningly destructive robot give us teasing hints of the cloud city's power and mystery. The girl and the bad guy are unidimensional antagonists: the pirates are more interesting in their strange mix of greed and altruism.
Ultimately, somewhat anticlimactically and subversively, Laputa is a mystery never solved. Who were the Laputans? How did they get so powerful? How much influence did they have on early human history? What happened to them? Are they "us"--and will nature eventually claim us the way the giant tree is eating into Laputa?
Setting is story in Miyazaki. (Also Piserchia--one reason I made the connection). The actions of the characters are usually dwarfed by a grand visionary scheme and world-building. Most of his movies are like this.
"Setting is story in Miyazaki." ...I hear you, but in Princess Mononoke there was that great ambiguous moral stuff between the death of the forest and the future of human technology (sounds like Nausicaä is similar). That was a really difficult, gut-wrenching polemic, and the whole storyline hinged on it. Then Graveside of the Fireflies was all politics and pain (ow). Spirited Away was lighter, but the characters and their odd personalities and powers (the giant baby, the dragon boy, the harpie witch) were really integral to the story, which remained gripping and surprising all the way through. The little girl in Spirited Away was a really strong character- so brave and determined, and her coming of age path was engaging. I think Castle in the Sky was more purely about setting than these others, but a very fine setting it was!
Grave of the Fireflies isn't Miyazaki--but they did package it in Japan with his children's film My Neighbor Totoro to freak out schoolkids. I had a problem with Mononoke--finding it so shaded it flattened out, but I chalked it up to twists on Japanese legends I didn't know about. Spirited Away meanders for me, much as I like it. What's the plot? Girl is separated from parents. Must be brave and resourceful in Looking Glass world and deal with strange characters and stranger tests. Passes final strange test and is reunited with parents. (I do think it's good for kids to get them used to all the polar personalities and f-ed up situations they'll encounter as they grow up.) I really think his films are all of a piece, but you can certainly prefer some plots over others. I was riveted by Castle and have watched it a bunch of times. I just ordered another castle (Castle of Cagliostro) on DVD--it's almost all adventure, a caper action/comedy he took over, and early, but gorgeous. One of my favorites.
The only "major" one I haven't seen is Porco Rosso, about an ace pilot who's a pig, also due out from Disney in August.
"Grave of the Fireflies isn't Miyazaki" ....oops. That's a relief though, it's pretty different!
This huge soft-spoken robot is about to be archived. I'm gonna miss him.
you can save the link to the post in your bookmarks. better yet , rent the movie! I think you'd like it a lot, Jean.
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- sally mckay 4-14-2004 8:40 am
More pics here. As you can see from what I wrote, I found it more exciting than you did. It's definitely a kid's movie, but the melancholy of the ruined civilization is very adult and quintessential Miyazaki. The Nausicaä re-release is set for Aug. 31--the delay has been ridiculous. Good Miyazaki fan site here.
- tom moody 4-14-2004 10:41 am
I should also say that despite my lack of interest in the plot development, I loved the weird world in this film: all manner of crazy detailed flying machines, the over-endowed yet mannish pirate mother with fat pink pigtails, the cities situated in chasms. There was little set-up and no apology for this rampantly imaginative fantastic alt.reality. Also, there were occasional insertions of a radically different drawing-style, a more sketchy look, referring to engraving or woodcut, that was used to indicate the past, or a narrative stance outside the main action. I can't think of another instance where an animated movie has utilised drawinging styles as a narrative device. Nausicaä sounds amazing, can't wait.
- sally mckay 4-14-2004 4:06 pm
The use of different, often antiquated drawing styles and especially in "slide show" format is an anime specialty. It's often done to create an emotional (nostalgic, elegiac) mood. Here's a brief rundown of the plot mechanics, which I feel strangely compelled to defend:
Girl has mystical, hereditary connection to floating cloud-city Laputa.
Boy's aeronaut father is killed "discovering" Laputa; boy is obsessed with re-"discovering" it.
Bad guy is another Laputan descendant; wants to find it to access its slumbering, potentially world-dominating tech.
Air-pirates are self-interested; they're only after treasure but are very dynamic about moving characters from one place to another. Also pretty funny--a dysfunctional family in the sky.
Plot is all about getting us to Laputa, establishing the conflicting motivations of the characters for wanting to be there. It does a serviceable job of this, with many exciting chases and fights. Early scenes of the superpowered, frighteningly destructive robot give us teasing hints of the cloud city's power and mystery. The girl and the bad guy are unidimensional antagonists: the pirates are more interesting in their strange mix of greed and altruism.
Ultimately, somewhat anticlimactically and subversively, Laputa is a mystery never solved. Who were the Laputans? How did they get so powerful? How much influence did they have on early human history? What happened to them? Are they "us"--and will nature eventually claim us the way the giant tree is eating into Laputa?
Setting is story in Miyazaki. (Also Piserchia--one reason I made the connection). The actions of the characters are usually dwarfed by a grand visionary scheme and world-building. Most of his movies are like this.
- tom moody 4-14-2004 7:13 pm
"Setting is story in Miyazaki." ...I hear you, but in Princess Mononoke there was that great ambiguous moral stuff between the death of the forest and the future of human technology (sounds like Nausicaä is similar). That was a really difficult, gut-wrenching polemic, and the whole storyline hinged on it. Then Graveside of the Fireflies was all politics and pain (ow). Spirited Away was lighter, but the characters and their odd personalities and powers (the giant baby, the dragon boy, the harpie witch) were really integral to the story, which remained gripping and surprising all the way through. The little girl in Spirited Away was a really strong character- so brave and determined, and her coming of age path was engaging. I think Castle in the Sky was more purely about setting than these others, but a very fine setting it was!
- sally mckay 4-15-2004 5:14 am
Grave of the Fireflies isn't Miyazaki--but they did package it in Japan with his children's film My Neighbor Totoro to freak out schoolkids. I had a problem with Mononoke--finding it so shaded it flattened out, but I chalked it up to twists on Japanese legends I didn't know about. Spirited Away meanders for me, much as I like it. What's the plot? Girl is separated from parents. Must be brave and resourceful in Looking Glass world and deal with strange characters and stranger tests. Passes final strange test and is reunited with parents. (I do think it's good for kids to get them used to all the polar personalities and f-ed up situations they'll encounter as they grow up.) I really think his films are all of a piece, but you can certainly prefer some plots over others. I was riveted by Castle and have watched it a bunch of times. I just ordered another castle (Castle of Cagliostro) on DVD--it's almost all adventure, a caper action/comedy he took over, and early, but gorgeous. One of my favorites.
The only "major" one I haven't seen is Porco Rosso, about an ace pilot who's a pig, also due out from Disney in August.
- tom moody 4-15-2004 7:27 am
"Grave of the Fireflies isn't Miyazaki" ....oops. That's a relief though, it's pretty different!
- sally mckay 4-15-2004 5:23 pm
This huge soft-spoken robot is about to be archived. I'm gonna miss him.
- Jean (guest) 4-22-2004 10:20 pm
you can save the link to the post in your bookmarks. better yet , rent the movie! I think you'd like it a lot, Jean.
- sally mckay 4-22-2004 10:23 pm