Hold up. Hold up. Just a minute. First I will say welcome back to the Big Shot Critic blog. It has been a few months, and we're all a little overexcited to be back. Give it a minute. Deep breaths. Take it in.
Okay. Am I going to do reviews now? I don't know. Am I going to return to my weekly posts? I don't know. I just wanted to write a review for this film, and I have a blog for that, so here it is. Let us begin.
Watching From Up on Poppy Hill for the first time was like watching Casablanca for the first time. It takes you to a place and a time that you are not familiar with, and makes it matter to you. It's a very specific place and time, and the story wouldn't work anywhere (or any when) else. In Casablanca, it was northwestern Africa in the middle of World War II. In From Up on Poppy Hill, it's Yokohama, Japan in 1963. And now I want to move to Yokohama in the 60's because it looks like so much fun.
The movie focuses on Umi, a high school student. She meets a classmate named Shun, and they have feelings for each other. How they meet is a lot of fun, and in any throwaway story it would be a gimmick to show how cool and adventurous the love interest is, but here it comes naturally from not only the story, but the historical context as well. It's brilliant.
As we all know, two people developing feelings for each other in a movie means there must be an obstacle between them. From Up on Poppy Hill is no different, but it's an obstacle I've never seen in a romance story before. I won't spoil it. And again, had this been a lesser movie that would have to be the end of my review so as to avoid spoilers. But where other filmmakers settle for dead space, Studio Ghibli injects OODLES of texture. Yes, that's right, oodles. And this is where this film really stands out.
Texture in film is a tricky thing. To be honest, it's actually an abstract idea. It is subjective, and it manifests from calculated effort. Take Black Panther, for example. The texture of that movie is found in the fact that your brain accepts that Wakanda is feasible. All that costume work, all that architecture study, all that set dressing and makeup, it's all there just so you DON'T think: "Hang on, that doesn't look like something that would really exist."
Most use texture as a sort of shield, to defend against losing the audience. Studio Ghibli uses it more like a weapon. It's not designed to prevent you from disbelieving. It's designed to ensure that you do believe. To make belief inescapable. This is what happens when you treat texture with the same respect you give to story and character. It's like this movie was grown, not made. That's how natural all the texture feels.
This movie was a joy from beginning to end. I know critics say that all the time about movies they like, but this one really was, thanks to the outstanding soundtrack that kicks off right at the start. If you are a human being who has experienced at least one emotion before, you will enjoy this movie.
From Up on Poppy Hill is rated PG for mild thematic elements and some incidental smoking images. It was written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Goro Miyazaki. This reviewer watched it in original Japanese with English subtitles from the original Japanese cast.
Big Shot Critic