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Sniff Code |
Date: 2009-08-17
Miyazaki's films are refreshing for their even pacing and tempered characters. A far cry from the neurosis of Disney characters where everyone is shouting and riding on high octane. Ponyo is almost completely silent in its first 10 or 15 minutes, and even when the dialoug begins it has more of a sobering effect. If you pair that with the gorgeous hand drawn characters and hand painted backgrounds you suddenly remember what animation felt like twenty-plus years ago.
The story of Ponyo is truly Disney-esque on the surface - but only on the surface. A boy, Sosuke, finds a "goldfish" trapped in a jar and frees her. He also gives her the name Ponyo. It doesn't take very long for Ponyo to develop a pet-like affinity for Sosuke, leading her to the decision that she wants to be a human. It's really that simple. The rest is Miyazaki's masterful aptitude for making the plot less important than his signature slice-of life sequences of how people relate to each other and their environment. Watching Ponyo at times feels like people-watching. And, like people watching, it all amounts to a perplexing joy.
It's strangely relaxing to watch his visually vibrant and animated characters bring color to such banalities as eating soup and ham. If you've watched Howl's Moving Castle and the delicious scene of Howl cooking bacon and eggs, then you've seen Miyazaki do this before. The man has an eye for the small details of life. This is not to say that the movie is not forward moving. There are some semblances of Western story telling. For instance, Ponyo's father who is not particularly fond of humans is constantly seeking out Ponyo to bring her back home. However, as dramatic as this may be, it's marginal to the rest of the story. Miyazaki is less interested in the need for conflict and more interested in those unexplainable things that draw two people to each other.
E. A Solinas |
Date: 2009-12-06
Hayao Miyazaki is one of those rare directors who can take the magic of nature and childhood, then somehow capture it for the screen.
And his tenth Ghibli movie "Ponyo" is no exception -- it's a reimagined tale of a "little mermaid" who wants to become human so she can be with a little human boy she loves. It's a simple story told in a simple manner (occasionally TOO simple), but it has a lush oceanic beauty and an innocent sweetness that really capture your heart and imagination.
A little boy named Sosuke finds a tiny "goldfish" with a human face on a beach, trapped in a bottle. He names her Ponyo, and goes to great lengths to care for his little fishy friend.
But then the sea wizard Fujimoto, Ponyo's overprotective dad, appears and snatches Ponyo back into the sea -- and she decides that she wants to become human so she can be with Sosuke. Having tasted a bit of Sosuke's blood, she sprouts chickenleggy limbs and starts to change, but inadvertently disrupts a magical well that causes the moon to drop, the seas to rise over the land, and prehistoric magic to rise once more.
Sosuke and Ponyo are delighted to be reunited, despite the raging storm that is engulfing the city and causing ships to go missing. While the children go searching for Sosuke's missing mother, Fujimoto struggles to fix the balance of nature before the entire world is destroyed, with the help of Ponyo's sea goddess mother. The only hope of restoring balance lies in Ponyo and Sosuke -- and if Sosuke's love is not true, then Ponyo will be reduced to sea foam.
Compared to Miyazaki's other movies, "Ponyo" is a very simple story -- it's basically a boy-meets-fishgirl story, with lots of children running around being adorable and exquisite looks at the sea. Even its theme is simple -- the story is dependent on on true selfless love and how it knows no boundaries of age, experience or even species. Not to mention parents letting go of their children.
If there's a downside to the story, it's the lack of internal conflict. Example: the "test" that Fujimoto and the sea goddess use for Sosuke... well, it's far less impressive than it seems.
And Miyazaki does not disappoint animationwise -- he conjures a waterworld of luminous sea life, sparkling ships, prehistoric creatures, finned submarines and a town that has been swallowed by the sea (complete with boats floating over the rooftops). It's an exquisite piece of work that turns the ocean into a magical, otherworldly realm where wizards work in coral-encrusted towers and shimmering jellyfish take little mermaids to the surface.
Ponyo herself provides a lot of the movie's charm -- she's effusive, hyperactive, has a babylike fascination with the human world ("HAM!"), and an array of handy magical powers. Sosuke is a likable lad who is fascinated by Ponyo and her world, and Fujimoto makes a enjoyable anti-hero -- spindly, gaunt and with a mane of messy red hair, he's like a rock'n'roll embodiment of parental stress.
The extras are pretty promising on this particular edition, as you'd expect with a Ghibli film -- a slew of documentaries and interviews (including with Miyazaki himself), storyboards, explorations of the story's background. And most striking is the "World of Ghibli," an interactive creation which apparently allows people to "enter" the worlds of various Miyazaki movies -- "Ponyo's," "Kiki's," "Castle in the Sky's," and so on.
"Ponyo" is simpler and more childlike fare than most of Miyazaki's past films, but it's still a sweet and lushly-animated piece of work. At the very least, it will transport you to a magical childhood.
A. Neuberg |
Date: 2009-08-22
My son CJ is almost 3, and I have been waiting for that *perfect* movie to take him to. Today, we went to Ponyo.
Ponyo is delightfully drawn. I had read a review on another site that said it looked "old fashioned". Not everything is Pixar; not everything needs to be. It was nice to see an animated film that was illustrated similarly to animated films of my childhood.
Ponyo held CJ's attention for (almost) the whole movie. He loved all the fish. Some elements have the potential to be scary for some children, however (but really, what Disney movie doesn't have scary elements?).
I give it a 5, and CJ says, "Ponyo, again? More movie?" so I think he would give it a 5, too!! :)
Zack Davisson |
Date: 2010-01-14
The mother Lisa has the most poignant line in "Ponyo," saying the equivalent of "When you find yourself surrounded by magic and wonder, you don't try and understand it you just enjoy it."
To me, that is the theme and lesson of "Ponyo" ("Gake no Ue no Ponyou" or "Ponyo on the Cliffs"). After dabbling in darker themes and more adult-orientated fare like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, Miyazaki has returned to the lighter, simpler themes of the magic and mystery of childhood as found in his groundbreaking My Neighbor Totoro. One can always tell the target audience for a Miyazaki film by the age of the main character: "Spirited Away" was made for 10-year olds, "Princess Mononoke" was made for teenagers. The lead characters in "Ponyo" are 5 years old.
Like "My Neighbor Totoro," "Ponyo" is a film based on a childlike sense of joy and imagination. There is no need for a "villain" or some arbitrary conflict or threat for the children to overcome. Like Satsuki and Mei, Sosuke and Ponyo are pure at heart, and open to exploring the wonders around them. They feel their emotions without cynicism or thought, instead living in the moment and experiencing its joys, sorrows and fears.
Which is not to say there is no depth here. In "Ponyo," Miyazaki has blended two unlikely sources; Richard Wagner's pounding opera Die Walkure from Der Ring Des Nibelungen and Hans Christian Anderson's melancholy fairy tale The Little Mermaid. The essential set-up comes from "Die Walkure," where the god Wotan holds the goddess Freia captive, and is also the possessor of the Rhinegold Ring which grants vast magical powers so long as one gives up all possibility of love. As a nod to this, the name Ponyo is giving by her father is Brünnhilde, one of the Valkyrie who feels the power of the Ring and must make the choice between love and paradise. This story is skillfully blended with Anderson's "Little Mermaid," about a sea creature who must win the love of a human or be reduced to soulless sea foam.
Miyazaki essentially presents two movies. The front film is basic, colorful and easy to understand for children. The animation in "Ponyo" is some of the best that I have ever seen, with Miyazaki personally drawing much of the underwater and ocean scenes, utilizing the influence of classic Japanese ukiyo-e pictures. Miyazaki has said that "Ponyo" is his most technically complicated film, using more unique images than any previous film.
The second, deeper story is something that can only be assembled from fragments and snatches of conversation. For example, the wizard Fujimoto, Ponyo's father, was a human being who fell in love with the ocean goddess Gran Mammare, and struggled for centuries to burn away his humanity and become consort and protector for the entity he loved. More than anyone, he understands the sacrifices and struggles awaiting Ponyo when she loves someone not of her world. These story/sub-story elements are one of the things I love so much about Japanese film, where more expectations are put on the audience to read between the lines and to give thought to the unspoken as well as the spoken
I am not sure how much of this deeper story survived the translation into English, as I watched the film in Japanese. There are some nuances that probably went missing, and I am curious as to how some of the scenes were handled, such as when Lisa sings Sosuke a part of the theme song to "My Neighbor Totoro" to cheer him up when his father is not home. Some other things, such as the significance of tunnels in Japanese folklore (considered the realm of female Mountain Gods who are prone to jealousy, it is assumed that the tunnel would not take kindly to a water deity passing through. However, outside the tunnel is a statue of Jizo, the protector of children, which sends a visual clue to the audience that Sosuke and Ponyo are going to be alright.) also might pass unnoticed or appear confusing to Western audiences, although every Japanese person would inately understand this without needing to be told.
Miyazaki proved in "Ponyo" that he is still the greatest director of animated films alive. I am so thrilled to have seen this movie, and I know I will watch it again and again.
B. Cahours |
Date: 2010-03-03
I have enjoyed Miyazaki's films for years, and in the past have watched them with my 5-year-old son, but he has never been overly into them or asked to watch them, it has always been a fight between my picks (Howl's Moving Castle, Nausicaa) and his (Cars, Toy Story). However, when I saw the reviews for Ponyo I hoped he might like it, so we watched it together today.
Wow! It is rare for him to be so completely enthralled by, and emotionally involved in, a movie. He enjoyed every little nuance of the movie to the fullest (giggling at every instance of 'HAM!'), and when Ponyo's father took her back to her home under the sea he was seriously NOT happy. When she busted out her little chicken arms and legs and ran back to her beloved Sosuke on the backs of her behemoth fish/sisters, he was almost giddy. I truly enjoyed the film and didn't want to look away at any point - the story was enjoyable in its simplicity and the artwork completely amazing - and I especially did not want to miss my son's reactions throughout. I would highly recommend this for any mom with younger children!
One final note - in the past I have been disappointed with the American voice acting in these movies ... the Japanese voice actors have always been so superior. However, this one was very well done - at no point was I irritated by the voices or words that were chosen.
