She has a daughter who is not biologically hers, but is very much her. She, too, seems wracked by anxiety over Anna. This is a difficult thing for Yoriko, Anna’s stepmother. The problem here, in the film, is that Anna’s foster mother takes her to a physician and not a psychiatrist. People who suffer from mental illnesses are often not believed or doubted or another reason is given to explain their situation. She has a panic attack and her doctor tells her foster mother that it’s asthma, that fresh air would do her good.īut let’s stop here for a moment, because I think this replicates something all too common in our daily lives.
She needs them and wants them but feels like a burden, like they don’t actually want her, like they wouldn’t care for her if they weren’t receiving a government subsidy. She loves her foster parents but resents them. She hates herself because of the way she feels, because of the ways she sees the world. Her anxiety is extremely severe, caused by her feelings of inadequacy, alienation, and depression. Within the film, the inciting incident to send her into the country is an asthma attack, but I think it’s clear that this is actually a panic attack. Her anxiety and depression haunt and constrict her ability to interact freely with other children. She loves drawing but is extremely withdrawn from her peers. This film is about Anna, a young Japanese foster child. I think it does an impressive job discussing these ideas while still telling the story it means to tell: the story of a foster child coming to terms with who and what she is. It tackles racism (albeit in a mostly implicit way), depression, abuse, identity, and memory in ways most animated films would never even attempt. It’s a very interesting film, for a lot of reasons.
In any case, Studio Ghibli has closed its doors and, for better or worse, this was their feature film farewell. I think, technically, it’s the final thing produced by Studio Ghibli, though Ni No Kuni II may soon take that claim. Those are gigantic shoes to fill and maybe they have no intention of being thought of along with the originators of Studio Ghibli, but I do hope they continue to make films. Gorō Miyazaki has already completed his first anime series, but it has yet to hit stateside. And who knows–if they continue making films, we may think of them in the same way we think of Hayo Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Bittersweet because this film is really great, and shows that, even without Miyazaki, the next generation of Ghibli filmmakers were capable. Gorō Miyazaki and Yonebayashi may never be as legendary as Hayo Miyazaki, but they’ve shown that they’re fully capable of making beautiful films about real people. Bittersweet because I–and so many others–have loved this studio and the work they’ve produced. When Marnie Was There by Hiromasa Yonebayashi is the final film Studio Ghibli produced, which is bittersweet. I’ll also be discussing these with the assumption that they’ve been seen by you.
I’ll also only be discussing the Japanese audio version of the films, though that doesn’t mean the dubs are bad or not worth seeing. This does, however, mean I won’t be discussing Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which was made before the founding of the studio. If you’re looking for the discussions of the previous weeks: Because this is one of my favorite films studios and Miyazaki is one of my favorite artists, who’s made some of my favorite films, I’ve decided to go through the history of Studio Ghibli one film at a time. 2015 is the 30th anniversary of the founding of Studio Ghibli and, according to Hayao Miyazaki, it may also be one of its final years as a studio.
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