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When Marnie Was There (2015)
Daniel's Review
After only have seen one Studio Ghibli film before, ‘Spirited Away’, I was intrigued by their latest feature, and potentially final film (the studio has temporarily halted production on future films), ‘When Marnie Was There’.
The storytelling in this animated feature is so beautifully written, following twelve year old Anna, a girl who is anti-social and is isolated from everyone around her. Her parents move Anna to Yoriko with her relatives Setsu and Kiyomasa Oiwa for the summer, after an asthma attack at school. Anna is so drawn to this abandoned mansion, where she meets Marnie, a mysterious girl who becomes fast friends with Anna.
Putting this into perspective, I saw ‘When Marnie Was There’ in Japanese with English subtitles, and didn’t see the English dub, but despite this, I was so wrapped up into the story of the film, as the characters are so well developed, I didn't care what language this film was in.
The animation is also beautiful, and it is great to see traditional animation on the big screen again, as traditional animation is missing in the American animated features in recent times, only to be welcomed back briefly with ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’ earlier this year, as Studio Ghibli shows that to tell great animation storytelling, you don’t need over $100 million CGI to present the story. If the story is powerful, haunting and moving, like ‘When Marnie Was There’, it can still find an audience.
Also worth praising, the song during the credits “Fine on the Outside” is an emotional song, which sums up the movie perfectly.
‘When Marnie Was There’ is powerful storytelling at its best, boasted with beautiful and detailed animation, along with developed characters and a story that is emotional and sweet, all at the same time.
Studio Ghibli has a winner with ‘When Marnie Was There’, and here’s hoping they return to traditional animation again in the near future, as this film was great from start to finish, as it was a perfect puzzle adventure.
Score: 10/10
Published: June 8th, 2015
Details
Review
Release Date: May 14th, 2015
Studio: Studio Ghibli, Madman Entertainment
Runtime: 103 mins
Rated: PG
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Rob's Review
Filmaholics, if I review this movie, I would be here until next year.
'When Marine Was There' is about a teenage girl called Anna who is suffering from depression, so she is sent to live with her aunt and uncle to get some fresh air, after a asthma attack at school. While there she befriends a mysterious girl called Marine.
Guys, no joke, see the movie! I'm not gonna say what I didn't like, or what i did like, because well everything was amazing in this movie.
Buy a ticket and check it out for yourself. You won't be let down.
Score: 10/10