#7 - Only Yesterday
Last fall the Cinematheque did a series on the films of Hiyao Miyazaki. I enjoyed that a great deal, so when the Cinematheque booked a series of Studio Ghibli films by other directors I jumped right in. First up was the film Only Yesterday, directed by Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata.
To be honest, this was not an auspicious beginning to the series. The framing story, which feature a twenty-seven year old woman named Taeko spending her holiday on a farm in the countryside are pretty good, but unfortunately the bulk of the movie is made up of flashbacks to her childhood. Those sequences are like a really bad Judy Blume novel (and I liked Judy Blume just fine growing up). It's certainly possible that the movie too faithfully represented being ten or that I have no real interest in the realistically portrayed problems of ten-year-olds, but either way it didn't do it for me. On the plus side, I'm pretty sure that it passed the Bechdel Test, so that's a plus.
As you'd expect from Studio Ghibli, the animation is well done. However, I thought the adult version of the main character's face had something hinky. Every time she came on screen it felt a little off for some reason. The other characters (adults or children) didn't cause this reaction in me, so I'm not sure exactly why this one did. If the film hadn't bored me I might not have noticed, but as it was it was another consistent distraction.
As far as I'm concerned, this film only needs to be seen by Studio Ghibli completists. On the other hand, Only Yesterday was the highest grossing Japanese film of 1991, so clearly it appealed to somebody. Your mileage will undoubtedly vary.
How Much Fun I Had in the Theater, 2013
Rank. Order - Name. Date; Theater.
To be honest, this was not an auspicious beginning to the series. The framing story, which feature a twenty-seven year old woman named Taeko spending her holiday on a farm in the countryside are pretty good, but unfortunately the bulk of the movie is made up of flashbacks to her childhood. Those sequences are like a really bad Judy Blume novel (and I liked Judy Blume just fine growing up). It's certainly possible that the movie too faithfully represented being ten or that I have no real interest in the realistically portrayed problems of ten-year-olds, but either way it didn't do it for me. On the plus side, I'm pretty sure that it passed the Bechdel Test, so that's a plus.
As you'd expect from Studio Ghibli, the animation is well done. However, I thought the adult version of the main character's face had something hinky. Every time she came on screen it felt a little off for some reason. The other characters (adults or children) didn't cause this reaction in me, so I'm not sure exactly why this one did. If the film hadn't bored me I might not have noticed, but as it was it was another consistent distraction.
As far as I'm concerned, this film only needs to be seen by Studio Ghibli completists. On the other hand, Only Yesterday was the highest grossing Japanese film of 1991, so clearly it appealed to somebody. Your mileage will undoubtedly vary.
How Much Fun I Had in the Theater, 2013
Rank. Order - Name. Date; Theater.
- #6 - Harvey. Sunday, January 27; Capitol Theater.
- #4 - True Romance. Sunday, January 20; Cleveland Cinematheque.
--- Above this Line, Awesomeness --- - #2 - Lincoln. Tuesday, January 8; Westlake Regal
- #5 - Django. Tuesday, January 22; Capitol Theater (Cleveland Cinematheque production)
- #1 - The Well-Digger's Daughter. Sunday, January 6; Cleveland Cinematheque.
--- Below This Line, I Was Bored --- - #7 - Only Yesterday. Sunday, January 27; Cleveland Cinematheque.
- #3 - 8 1/2. Sunday, January 13; Cleveland Cinematheque.