| My neighbour Totoro review(spoiler warning) |       |
No real plot or drama, just a simple childish story about two little girls in the 1950, who move out to the country to be nearer to their ill mother and befriend a spirit in the woods. Sounds boring on paper, doesn't it? But this movie is far from boring, it's one of the most beautiful and magical pieces of art ever created.
My neighbor Totoro is the story of 10 year old Satsuki and her 4 year old sister Mei, who with their father move out to the country from Tokyo to be closer to the hospital where the girl's mother has been for a long time. The house that the girls move into is really old and a bit of a wreck. The girls are more excited than scared at the prospect that it might be hounted. And this seems to be the case, with acorns appearing at odd places and susuwataris (soot balls) everywhere. The little family still settles into the house and gets friendly with the neighbors. One day Mei meets a huge creature that she calls a Totoro. And so begins a magical friendship that gives the girls happiness when they most need it.
So what exactly is a Totoro? Well, the interesting part is that it's never made quite clear what Totoro is. The girl's dad call him the king of the woods and he seems to be some kind of forest god/spirit, but nobody knows for sure. The name is Mei's mispronounciation of torroro (troll). Mei has a storybook with the japanese version of the tale of the Three goats and probably thinks Totoro looks like the troll in the story. (In the end, when still pictures of the girl's life after Mother comes home, there is one picture where Mother reads this story to the girls and Totoro really looks a lot like the troll!!!!) There are actually three totoros; a little withe one, a blue one that's a bit bigger and a huge grey one, although most people mean the grey one when they talk about totoro. Totoros are very kind creature, who enjoy helping their friends. They have magical powers, they can fly on spinning tops, for example. It's never made clear if Totoro only exists in the girl's imagination, but all adults around them take what the girls' stories about Totoro seriously.
There are so many things that I love about My neighbor Totoro that I don't know where to begin. Everything about this sweet little movie just seems to be well... perfect. The characters, the story, the art, the music and so on all come together to create something that's much more than the sum of the different things. The characters are all entirely believeable. There's no conflict between the characters, all seem to live in harmony with each other. This is especially the case with the Kusakabe family. Father is a professor, who is a little absentminded and not very practical, is the best daddy in the world for his little girls. Mother is away, but she watches over her girls and waits for the time that she can join her family. Satsuki (bless her little heart) is a tough tomboy that really tries to manage her new role as mother of the house. And then there's Mei, a little chubby thing that's curious about everything. Like in Kiki's delivery service one year later, the strong family unit produces strong and self-confident little girls that can deal with life crises. Almost part of the family too is the neighbour granny, who looks after the girls when their father is working and to whom Satsuki can tell her fears about mother dying.
My neighbour Totoro is a visually stunning movie, because every little detail is so realistically drawn. The old house and the forest beside it, the farm community etc. Joe Hisaishi's music is perfect for the movie with it's cheerful children's songs, combined with a few sadder pieces when they are needed. The pace of the movie is really calm, so that you can appreciate everything happening. I'll give you an example of a scene where everything works together extra perfect; in fact this is my favourite scene in the movie. It's a rainy afternoon and the Satsuki notices that daddy has forgotten his umbrella,so she and Mei go to meet him at the bus stop. The bus comes, but daddy isn't on it, so the girls decide to wait. It's getting dark and Mei is getting bored and tired. So the girls are just waiting. But the waiting isn't boring, its beautiful. And then, in this totally normal situation where nothing really happens, magic happens. Totoro comes and joins the girls at the bus stop. But the scene isn't made like it probably would have been in a western cartoon; with loads of hints that now SOMETHING MAGICAL happens and intense reactions. In fact, this scene in Totoro is pretty low key. It's just Totoro wordlessly joining the girls at the bus stop and Satsuki and Totoro standing together, waiting for the bus. Even when Totoro's cat bus arrives, the scene is still not over the top. I think that most western cartoonists could learn a thing or two about pacing and intensity from Totoro. A movie for children doesn't need to be full of action all the time and scenes can be very intense without being sentimental.
One of the most beautiful things about Totoro is that it's a real kids film, in that it's not too scary. But because Miyazaki always respects his young audience, he can put serious themes in his movies for younger children. Totoro isn't just a sunshine story, some of the storylines are really tragical. It's hinted in the movie that Totoro comes to the little girls, because they need him. There was a discussion on onlineghibli this summer about the mother's illness in Totoro and Satsuki's fear of mother dying is grounded in reality. In the 50's tuberculosis still could, and did, kill, so I feel that there's always the threat of mother dying. The darker storylines kind of make the more light-hearted storylines sweeter and the more light-hearted storylines keep the dark storylines from getting too depressing. My favourite Miyazaki movie is and will always be Princess mononoke, because it was the first Ghibli I saw, but the movie I go back to and watch time and time again is Totoro. This film in simple pure perfection. And when I wait for the bus on dark, rainy nights, I still secretly hope that a certain gentle giant would come and join me at the bus stop.
Post last edited by Heidi80 on 10.14.2011, 06:33 AM.
|
10.12.2011, 09:51 AM
) over to Japan with us. And yes, I had a Japanese drivers license. Quite an experience in itself, I must say. We were in Japan for a couple of years although my dad and I actually weren't. We spent most of the time enroute to and returning from Vietnam and on-line (firing line).
