The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)
[ćăăăăăźăąăȘăšăăăŁ]
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Starring: Mirai Shida, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Shinobu Otake
Synopsis:
A girl from a dwindling race of tiny people known as the Borrowers encounters a human boy.
Impressions:
I know that most of the Ghibli films not directed by Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata tend to come short of the mark in most people's eyes, and if that's how you happen to feel, I would say this movie is a strong aversion. This comes as close to capturing the Miyazaki magic as you'll find. Not diminishing the work of director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, but I imagine Miyazaki's work on the screenplay has a role in it. The realization of the miniature world of the Borrowers is very inventive and they have some cool attention to detail such as accounting for the surface tension of fluids at that scale and the relative sense of motion for things their size. They get into some interesting themes such as well-meaning humans doing more harm than good. While there's an antagonist, she isn't mustache-twirlingly evil or anything and get proportional comeuppance. It's a good family film and I definitely recommend adding it to your collection.
Rating:
Own It