My Neighbour Totoro

For true appreciation of Miyazaki's genius, his films must be watched with children. Because they are Japanese films its easy to forget that they're not art house cinema; they are cartoons written with children in mind. For my money, My Neighbour Totoro is perhaps the most wonderful expression of childhood ever found in a film that can be enjoyed by children.

An early high watermark from Studio Ghibli (indeed the film that gave them their icon, the titular "Totoro"), the story is astonishingly simple, and is perhaps unique in featuring no antagonist whatsoever. A frequent device in Miyazaki's films is to undermine the simplistic notion of villainy, but here there is no villain of which to speak. We follow the story of two sisters, the school-age Satsuki and her younger sister Mei, as they move into a new house and explore the surrounding area.

With a small crop of wonderfully realised characters (academic dad, the helpful old lady who asks them to call her "granny", and a mother sick in hospital, possibly from tuberculosis) the true joy in the film is the children's giddy excitement at such simple acts as collecting acorns. When Mei discovers a series of increasingly large squashy rabbit-trolls, the adventure begins. Despite there being no antagonist, the latter half of them film is still extremely tense, and had my young cousins biting their nails at the thought that young Mei had become lost in the woods.

The animation here is obviously done on a smaller budget then later works such as Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away, but is alive, and the rural landscape breathes and moves unbelievably. The film is wonderful fun, and very funny for both adults and children. The score by the ever-excellent Joe Hisaishi is superb, although the English-language title song is cringingly terrible (but then you were going to watch it subtitled anyway, weren't you?).

The Totoro himself is a wonderful, comic creature that has a deliriously idiosyncratic character (try to stop yourself giggling with glee at the effect an umbrella has on him). If nothing else, the film is worth watching for the two appearances of the Catbus, perhaps the single greatest piece of animation ever seen in cinema.
5/5

Kids Return

This character study from Japanese writer/director Takeshi Kitano is a measured consideration of the alienating effects of the end of adolescence. One of my favourite directors, Kitano's films have an annoying habit of being impossible to find on DVD, VHS or TV anywhere, and such is the case with Kids Return. Having managed to rent it as a download, I was pleased to discover that this low-key film is a treat among Kitano's strong work.

The story concerns two friends, who misspend their time at school getting into fights and stealing dinner money. As their education falls apart, they each take up boxing, and one eventually moves away into the local yakuza gang. As ever for Kitano, the action and acting is understated. However, for the first time here the camera is somewhat dynamic, a move away from the static tableau that dominated earlier works such as Violent Cop and Sonatine. The score is provided by Joe Hisaishi, and is uncharacteristically dependent on electric instruments; it's still a winner, though.

As his first film following a horrendous traffic collision that left Kitano semi-paralysed, it begins a loose trilogy of contemplative pieces that move away from the violent downward spirals in his first films. Kids Return lays the template for a formula that would be perfected in his following two masterpieces, Hana-Bi and Kikujiro.

Its as good an entry point into the Kitano catalogue as any, and as such is strongly recommended for those with an interest in Eastern cinema that avoids the vaguely trendy 'extreme' scene, or simply for anyone who wishes to see a well-realised, moving drama.
4/5

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke, to give this Japanese anime feature its English title, is the strongest of the films of Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle) that I have yet to see. Set in sixteenth century Japan, it follows the story of Prince Ashitaka, cursed from a battle with a terrifying boar-demon, on his quest to cure himself, and the encounters he has with the industrial, personified in trigger happy Lady Eboshi, and the wild, in the eponymous 'Monster Princess'.

At over two hours in length, this is no throwaway children's adventure story, and indeed the PG rating it received in Britain in no way anticipates the violence in the story; blood is a recurring theme, and there is a great deal of dismemberment and decapitation, as well as a hoard of terrifying demons and gods of the natural realm. Developed from Miyazaki's original script, the story is typically unpredictable and features a host of, to Western eyes at least, completely innovative encounters. It possibly reads as a parable for the destruction of nature by industry, although the symbolism and realisation is so complex as to feel that Miyazaki has produced a complete, epic fairy tale, with all the hidden meanings and emotions thus inherent.

As ever with Studio Ghibli productions, the animation is astonishing throughout. The life breathed into the natural world is amazing, from the huge lush landscapes down to the tiny details. There is also a terrific sense of pace to many of the action scenes, unusual in animation for often featuring a roving camera that swoops and flies along with the action. The whole thing is held together by a lush, sweeping score from the inimitable Joe Hisaishi. Moving from minimalist ticks and thumps to sweeping orchestral mayhem, he cements his place as one of the best composers of film music in the world today.

As a point of principle I watched this film in Japanese, subtitled in English, but for those disinclined to do so, there is apparently one of the finest examples of translation and dubbing in modern cinema, so this should be no reason not to watch.

Many will be familiar with Spirited Away, the Oscar-winning fantasy animation that was to be Studio Ghibli's next production. In that film, a modern-day setting was juxtaposed with the fantasy world into which the central character is drawn. While brilliant, I personally feel that Miyazaki's best is when these elements are distilled into their own stories. My Neighbour Totoro is a delightful fantasy about childhood that is given a completely non-fantastical setting, inhabited by strange creatures such as the 'Kittenbus'. Princess Mononoke steals Totoro's crown as my favourite Miyazaki feature, and indeed may be the best animated film I have ever seen.
5/5