Northern_Wall Reviews

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

Don't expect too much but enjoy everything you get...(possible spoilers)

[8/10 · 12 September 2011]

Trailers can be so deceptive sometimes. For the ones who had no idea of an original novel to "Arrietty" the disappointment of not seeing as much of the garden environment and "life under the leaves" as the trailer suggested this movie might turn out only half the entertaining ride.

I made the mistake of not informing myself about the plot beforehand and watched the movie expecting some 90 minutes of beautiful landscape/garden imagery coupled with the usual brilliant Ghibli narration and plot.

To make things easier I'll split up the review on the respective movie parts:

Scenery/pictures: Well-animated as usual, the Ghibli trademarks, i.e. nose forms, faces, glowing eyes of animals, etc. are well-known friends from former Ghibli movies which appear again in Arrietty, giving a feeling of comfort for the audience familiar with Ghibli movies. Yet it lacks a bit of fresh ideas and we too rarely see deeper than the outside cover of the garden which in return could've held so much more to explore...

Characters: Unfortunately the characters all remain shallow, you get into a little with Arrietty and Sho, but that's about it. Arriety's father is a one-dimensional, quiet man, whose only trait seems to be his physical strength. Arriety's mother is a hysterical woman. Wasn't sure at all if I should like her or if she was getting on my nerves. All four, the father, mother, Arrietty and Sho are created rather stereotypically, while only the house maid of Sho's grandma brings up a little spark in her persistent pursuit of getting rid of the "little people"...

Japanese Voice-overs: Ryûnosuke Kamiki who did the V-O for Sho sounded just like Kenji Mizuhashi from "5 Centimeters Per Second", which was a big disadvantage in my humble opinion since it kinda takes away the "Arrietty's" spirit of "fresh blood" movie-wise. None of the other jap. VO's are worth being mentioned, except for the house maid, who not only is animated and put in her role well and whose voice over does a good enough job to get connected with the character, disregarding its obvious malignancy...

Plot: The plot is, as mentioned in other reviews already, very simple, very basic and not as exploitative as known and so appreciated from other Ghibli movies. Nevertheless Norton and Miyazaki achieved to create a narrative environment that probably was intended to put the focus much more on the pictures this time, the in-house pictures that is, than on plot. Which in its fundamental idea works out OK and shows sparks of Ghibli brilliancy.

Music/Soundtrack: The music utterly disappointed me, since it did not have anything of the creativity of earlier Ghibli movies and overall sounded more like Japanese voice meshed with pop. The title track may stand out, bringing along a bit of a unique and creative work of music, yet it does not carry at all.

"Arrietty" is just too short to give a better impression of the hard life of the Borrower's and their constant struggle with the huge difference in dimensions of their environment. Another half an hour would not have hurt, simply to enhance the impression of the pictures.

Not the best Ghibli movie out there but worth a watch still, "Arrietty" may disappoint the hardcore Ghibli fans, yet enthrall new ones to explore the Ghibli universe a bit more!

Some might call this review over-thorough and off of the point of simply wanting to give an impression of the difference between the Borrower's and the human world, but I think with Ghibli having such an excellent reputation one is allowed to expect more...

Enjoy the movie!

The Pacific (2010)

A redundant series in times of redundant wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

[7/10 · 4 May 2010]

First things first: I'm German, thus I might not be fully able to relate to the U.S. American patriotism as much as true Americans do. BUT: It's probably that standpoint of neutrality and distance to the events depicted in HBOs mini-series "The Pacific", which clearly pointed out to me the weakness and redundancy of the whole series, IMHO.

I respect the lives which have been given, the blood that has been shed for whatever reason in this totally senseless war. That is for sure. So don't get me wrong when I say that this series is - and it is: Redundant. We don't see much more than mediocre character acting, some mediocre shooting and fighting scenes, nice explosions here and there and the usual, this time more subtly used, patriotism, compared to the not-really-that-good show BoB. (Which is being loved by half-educated Americans for the patriotism and exaggerated fighting scenes, but for nothing more)

What I do not understand is the timing of "The Pacific". In the wake of an illicit U.S. crusade (Iraq) and its obvious, never ending terrifying results, which now even affect German soldiers and their lives and after two good-enough movies about the Pacific battles aka "Letters From Iwo Jima" and "Flags of our Fathers" - WHERE is the purpose in such a mini-series other than a patriotic American (aka Tom Hanks) who just so happens to have to satisfy his longing for glorifying a war and his soldiers, which wasn't and who weren't glorious at all?

Let's be honest: There's a real war going on out there, where American and German soldiers day on almost a daily basis, and all we've seen in "The Pacific" so far was nothing more than a congruent copy of the aforementioned movies. So, there's no need to tell us how great Americans fought in the Pacific, while their kids and kids kids die in contemporary wars, which have no real reason at all.

There haven't been any major outstanding acting miracles over the course of the last eight episodes, the story-line's has been more than thin from start to now and once again oozes of blatant US-American patriotism and the unceasing US-American quest of short-lived heroes.

Unless you've had a relative in the Pacific dying for his or her country, this series won't touch you a bit, i guess. And that's because it's, after Band Of Brothers, in it's overall atmosphere and appearance, HBOs most unnecessary mini-series, which obviously serves only one purpose: To satisfy the craze of someone, who's got too much money to spend on the wrong things - Mr Hanks!

If you want to watch a good, contemporary war-series, go and get yourselves "Generation Kill", which is in-depth, authentic and carries along something Tom Hanks and fundamentalist patriots will never be able to deliver: HONESTY and the necessary neutrality towards the subject at hand.