Director: Sunao Katabuchi Studio: MAPPA Genre(s): Drama Rated: PG-13 (For thematic elements including war-related images) |
“In this Corner of the World” is about a woman who learns to
love a life she never anticipated having, during a time that many would
consider to be very bleak period in time.
She is a simple woman, short and plain looking. She has few skills that would make her a good
wife, but she will do her choirs with a smile on her face. Her one talent is drawing, which she uses as
both a means of escaping the trivialities of life as well as capturing the
small beauties of it. In another lifetime,
she may have been a good storyteller, but the year is 1941, and Japan is at war
with the rest of the world. Supplies are
hard to come by and the Japanese people don’t have the luxury to follow
dreams. Suzu Urano is in such a position
herself. In her youth, she was praised
for her artwork, had a loving family, and had a crush on a local boy who was
aloof to her feelings.
This sounds like it could be the story to just about any
live action drama about World War II, but many will be surprised that what I
have just described is a summery for an animated film. It is a beautiful film. One that looks like a sketchbook drawing that
has come to life, and feathers many other forms of animation to show off our
main heroin’s talents as an artist. The
subject matter is not something most would think of for this format (and there
will undoubtly be parents who bring their kids to see it thinking it’s a mere
children’s film), and chances are some of the culture characteristics will
throw off some, but “In this Corner of the World” not only embraces the format
with which it decided to tell its story; it also gives us a splendid example of
how effectively artists tools can be when used by storytellers.
As people who have seen a Pixar film can tell you (and I’m
sure many people have seen one of those movies), color can be a great tool for
visual storytelling. It was used to
great effect in “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone with the Wind” before it become a
standard practice in Hollywood (to the point where most movies don’t utilize it
at all despite having it). That is not
the case here though, as the artists use diverse kinds of paint, tones, and
cosmic settings throughout the entire film, perfectly illustrating the
emotional journey our lead protagonist is feeling and experiencing. The pacing of the movie is also done in a way
that we feel like we are living life with her, not merely waiting for something
big to happen (though people who are familiar with important dates in history
will know that disaster is about to strike).
The films themes of family honor, sacrificing personal
happiness, and duty to the country may not be as strong in America as they are
in Japan, but the film perfectly manages to make us understand Suzu’s journey
and emphasize with her so that cultural barriers are not…well, barriers to
understanding what is going on. Japan
has been in a bit of a mature storytelling renaissance with these types of
personal stories, and thankfully audiences seem to be embracing them. A few years ago, Hayao Miyazaki released “The
Wind Rises” to critical acclaim, and this year “Your Name” became the highest
grossing film in Japan and a worldwide hit.
Both these movies lack the mainstream touch that normally points to
obvious success, but the fact that audiences and critics embraced them
none-the-less shows that there is a hunger for more mature animation on the
market.
Maybe more than even I realized. This was based off a comic book of the same
name. That series was well reviewed, but
financially not very successful. Getting
the rights to it was easy but getting the funding to make a movie was
difficult. Therefore, the director had
to turn to crowdfunding and ask (maybe in vein) for ¥ 20 million. He managed to raise ¥ 39 million, and the
result is that we have this wonderfully sensitive and touching movie in front
of us. So, while I normally rag on the
everyday common folk not turning up to see a movie like this in theaters, at
the very least they helped it get made this time around. I’m not sure if that is going to result in
ticket sales, but at least the public met the film makers halfway this time
around. Which is really everyone’s
blessing, because we need more movies like “In this Corner of the World.” Not just animated ones, but live ones
too. We need movies where characters
lives are so beautifully and dramatically depicted, so fully fleshed out, that
we feel we know them as real people at the end of the film. That type of movie is very rare, but they
tend to be the best kind made.
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, there are several scenes of strong, graphic war violence, as well as some mature themes. Recommended for ages 13 and up.
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