Review by John Delia
From the Ghibli studios that produced the wonderment of Ponyo and the Oscar winning Spirited Away, comes a story of romance and relationships that will tug at your heart strings. The animated film From Up on Poppy Hill comes to theaters this weekend with colorful visuals and it’s for families.
It’s 1963 and most of Japan has recovered from past wars putting a lot of bad happenings in the past and moving on to changes especially since they are hosting the upcoming Olympics. Living in a small fishing town a feisty teenager Umi takes care of her grandmother, sister and brother with her mother in America attending college. Each day she takes time to raise the boating signal flags in front of her grandmother’s house on Poppy Hill. They’re not just ordinary pennants, but send a message to passing ships. Her father whose ship went down in the Korean Conflict has been missing for years, but Umi has hopes that someone knows what happened to him and that he will return.
For Umi her heart has been reaching out to Shun the boy who prints the student paper at the high school’s Latin Quarter boys clubhouse. He’s a popular student and most all the girls like him, but Umi feels she will take a chance to try and get closer to the very busy teen. With the Latin Quarter in fast decay there’s a chance that the school’s historical building will be torn down. In order to preserve the past a lot of articles have been written to try and save the clubhouse and Umi volunteers to type them for the paper. This brings her closer to Shun who takes the lead on saving the building, but just gets him deeper in the cause lessening chances for the two to start a relationship. Just when a spark starts to ignite the two an unexpected twist concerning a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on their future together.
The color washed sets are gorgeous and the animated drawings with strong lines are bold and enjoyably basic. Studio Ghibli holds true to their continually good animation that has made them one of the top houses in the world. The characters in From Up on Poppy Hill are interesting, realistic and enjoyable to watch and span any culture. Umi has the innocence of youth, her eyes are wide and she deals with most of the angst that teenagers have all over the world. She’s the personification of the ideal concerned student who supports her classmates. Shun is a clean cut boy who’s more outspoken than Umi. He fights for his classmates rights even if he has to go to the highest order to get heard. Coming of age, Shun cautiously seeks out someone who cares for him rather than jump at the first chance to be with someone.
Director Goro Miyazaki puts together his film with care taking after his father Oscar winning Hayao Miyazaki and keeping the trend of colorful and meaningful films. Family values are prevalent showing Umi’s closeness to her grandmother, brother and younger sister. She goes about the chores of cooking and washing clothes before thinking of her needs. She is very concerned as to why her country has been tearing down the old and bringing in the new as she’s not ready to let go of the past. I love the Ghibli characters and am happy to see the continuation of their fine animation.
The music throughout the film gives essence to each of the segments. I especially liked the haunting melody of the theme song From Up on Poppy Hill “Sayonara no Natsu†or “Summer of Farewells†sung in Japanese by Teshima Aoi. Very deep and having an important effect like the love song from Titanic “My Heart Will Go On†it adds to the romance and dreams that Umi and Shun radiate.
The only problem I had with the film centers on the voice acting being too Americanized. The Japanese setting of From Up on Poppy Hill weighs so heavily into the story that the absence of Japanese accents becomes grating. Not a reflection on the actors who voiced the characters here as they do a good job, it’s that the complete experience would have been a lot better if English speaking Japanese actors took on the roles. Where it doesn’t distract in previous Ghibli fantasy or European country settings like Castle in the Sky, Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbors the Yamadas, Kiki’s Delivery Service and The Secret World of Arrietty, in those films foreign accents are used without any loss of realism.
From Up On Poppy Hill has been rated PG for mild thematic elements and some incidental smoking images. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that may be inappropriate for younger children.
FINAL ANALYSIS: An excellent family film that’s enjoyable to watch. (B+)
Additional Film Information:
- Cast: Gillian Anderson, Sarah Bolger, Beau Bridges, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bruce Dern, Jeff Dunham
- Directed by: Goro Miyazaki
- Written by: Hayao Miyazaki
- Genre: Family, Drama, Animation
- MPAA Rating: PG for mild thematic elements and some incidental smoking images
- Running Time: 1 hr 31 min
- Opening Date: May 10, 2013
- Distributed by: GKids