When Marnie Was There

Dir: Hiromasa Yonebayashi

2014

***

The future of Studio Ghibli is uncertain following 2014's When Marnie Was There and I'm not sure if this was the best film to pause on. It follows a couple of the studio's strongest offerings, The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, both released in 2013. I don't believe the studio is lost without Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata or producer Toshio Suzuki but I do wonder whether this is an indication that it has lost its way somewhat. Ghibli films can be categorized in two different types; Fantasy and Melodrama. Most films are both but usually leaning dramatically towards one of the other. When Marnie Was There is one of the more serious of their films, it has fantastical elements about it but at its heart this is an emotional tale. I believe the wider audience wants a Catbus, a flying pig and general Japanese folk-law fantasy from their Ghiblis, personally I think films such as Whisper of the Heart, Only Yesterday and in particular Grave of the Fireflies are where the studio's real talents lie but it is all generally good. I didn't love When Marnie Was There though. Compared to most Anime melodramas it is miles ahead but I found it to be fairly lacklustre considering those involved and what the studio is capable of. The story itself is extremely predictable which shatters most of the illusion. None of the characters are particularly memorable either, which is quite unlike Ghibli. It is a relatively faithful adaptation of Joan G. Robinson's 1967 novel, except the story takes place in the city of Sapporo, Japan, rather than Norfolk, England. That said, and I don't know if this is simply something lost in translation or if I read too much into it, but I don't remember the strong suggestions of lesbianism in the book that seems quite clear in the animation. If I am mistaken, then the melodrama has been overcooked, even for a Ghibli film dealing with angst, adolescence and depression. I can see how past work has been influenced by this kind of story but much like Hiromasa Yonebayashi's 2010 The Secret World of Arrietty, I don't think the studio should be making adaptations like this as it never plays to their strengths. For all the years of working alongside great story tellers, surely someone left at Ghibli has a great idea of their own? It may sound like I'm being unnecessarily harsh on When Marnie Was There but to be fair it fell very short of my expectations and I know the studio can make far more captivating films than this. I liked the story and the twist ending a lot, even though I saw it coming a mile away. I just didn't like the forced and rather relentless melodrama, maybe young teens would disagree but I always felt Ghibli films were for everyone. When Marnie Was There has me fearful of the future of a studio I love.