This film has lots of what I like to see when go to a Studio
Ghibli project. I enjoy the lush
visuals, the somewhat stilted characters, the unlikely narrative, and the Japanese
cuteness. At Ghibli, these elements
always seem to come together to create something that’s deeply fleshed out, internally consistent as well as absolutely unique and absorbing. To watch From Up on Poppy Hill is to enter
into an aesthetic space that exists only in this particular film, and while you’re
there, you give yourself to its complete world with its own imaginative
rules. The what-if atmosphere is warm
and tender, not only arising from the rich imagery of the port, the gardens and
the clubhouse, but also from the adolescent fantasy that informs the
movie. From Up on Poppy Hill has
hard-working teens, gallant teens striving against obtuse adults, teens consumed
with the excitement of learning, and teens dealing with romantic awakenings. And all of this to a nostalgic soundtrack
that harkens back to accessible 60s jazz and some pop. The film is a satisfying immersion in a
deeply imagined and rendered world.
It’s not hard to imagine an element of meta-signification in
the film either. Aside from the teen
romance that is fraught with complication,
From Up on Poppy Hill deals with the
tension between the past and now. The baroque
clubhouse is facing demolition to make way for the new era that the 1964 Tokyo
Olympics will usher in, but heroes Umi and Shun have a vision for the
restoration of the old building, partly gleaned from the beauty of the
renovated boarding house she helps run.
The film calls for preserving the past as we move into the future. This is the same approach that director Gorō
Miyazaki takes in making this film. The
son of Ghibli master Hayao Miyazaki, Gorō builds on the achievement of his
father rather than abandoning the Ghibli approach to go in a different
direction. The rich visuals and
intensity of imagination he brings here extend the approach to anime that his
father has developed, and Gorō even has his father Hayao as a scriptwriter,
ensuring that
From Up on Poppy Hill builds on this tradition. And Gorō succeeds convincingly from up on his own Poppy Hill by following in the footsteps of those who worked before
him in this absorbing film about respecting tradition.
