THE STATION AGENT (2003)

How about watching a simple and moving drama about a little dwarf man living on a small old cabin near railway line after the death of his only friend. He prefers to remain alone and isolated in his own queer world about trains. He doesn’t like socializing, taking help or favor from anyone and yet his size makes him centre of curiosity and fun to others. He meets a coffee seller working near his cabin and an accident prone mid age lady and the relations between them grow with personal and emotional tide and ebb.

Written & directed by Thomas McCarthy, beautifully carried the whole film on eyecandy visuals of idle hours shared by the trio on railway tracks as mood enhancing backdrop along with fine background score. The film is warm and beautiful character oriented drama which is interesting, emotional and light heartedly funny without being loud in any of three, ditto about the three different characters who share their company on screen. Kudos to sincere and natural performances by Patricia Clarkson, Peter Dinklage & Bobby Canavale which so effortlessly connect us to them.

A simple, moving and delightful film worth to watch without any second thoughts. I crave to watch something like this…J

Ratings-8.5/10

13 ASSASSINS (Japanese) (2010)

Only Takashi Miike can pull it this way! Making a Samurai warrior film that reminds us one of the greatest Kurosawa films of all-time ‘The Seven Samurai’. Comparisons are fair and normal as both of them are Japanese legends; if one was Master, another is cult auteur on his own terms. However keeping his common traits of sadistic torture and grotesque bloodshed so much restraint, he gave us well made Samurai film; quite a rarity these days! Unlike Kurosawa’s epical three hours long classic, it is shorter in length with two hours. It lead us to feudal era where Samurai tradition was waning in godforsaken land. Sadistic and ruthless Lord Naritsugu is evil incarnation and Miike used his common props to portray his demon. To end this intolerable tyranny Shogun’s top official Sir Doi called Shinzaemon, a top Samurai warrior. The first half is gathering of all Samurais and strategic planning and execution with surprising unusual entry of 13^th warrior who’s real fun to watch just like Master’s legend Toshiro Mifune.

What’s mind-blowing is the second half where awesome climax action lasts for 45 minutes. Its 13 deadly Samurai’s suicide mission Vs 200 soldiers and Miike made it as brilliant as we expect- brilliant set ups, traps and let the swords speak the language of Total Massacre. It lacks only one thing- the room for character development as in Master’s classic. Well for today’s new generation kids who haven’t watched the spark of Kurosawa’s classic, this would be a big firecracker.

Ratings-8/10

PONYO (Japanese) (2008)

It’s Miyazaki’s world of water where everything is possible; the man still believes in hand drawn cartoon and believe me it’s as wonderful as light hearted animation as his beloved one ‘My Neighbor Totoro’. Like a small girl Mei in ‘Totoro’, here is 5 years old boy named Sosuke accidentally saves a sweet little gold fish. He named it Ponyo. Ponyo’s father is a freaky wizard of ocean who keeps Ponyo in a bubble and balances the sea from inside. He despises humans as they’re contaminating aquatic world and its wonderful ecology for their own selfish purposes; a common Miyazaki film trait about environmental concern juxtaposed between the world of nature and human. Little Ponyo turned rebel and magically turned into a girl kid and meets the boy again. Her magical powers help the boy to find Sosuke’s lost mother in water dipped town and Sosuke’s real love for Ponyo permanently turned tiny fish to real girl.

No need to say much about Miyazaki’s world of animation, rich in detailing and captivating in visuals proving once again why Japanese sensibilities and creativity of animation overshadowed Hollywood’s big studio products. Its days since I’m watching Miyazaki cinema and believe me I don’t want to return to cinema of reality as long as I can get films like these! J

Recommended to all animation lovers.

Ratings-8/10

5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND (Japanese) (2007)

What would be the result if the cinematic art of Wong Kar Wai and Hayao Miyazaki reciprocates each other? Here’s an animation that touches you deep with its breathtaking visuals and a poignant shorts about love and distance between innocent teenage lovers that reminds you both of these auteurs. I must say that the Japanese cinema is scaling different heights in animation; the animation here brings the sublime intensity and pangs of unreturned love between lovers which even films with real flesh and blood characters failed to deliver. Whether it’s two souls desperate to meet each other in mundane modern world at railway platform in ‘The chosen cherry Blossoms’ or a girl’s unspoken love to her friend in ‘Cosmonaut’, Director Shinkai Makoto has explored a new vistas of heart and soul in animation.

It has stunning artistic visuals finely abstained from any sort of gimmicks. Just watch how many shades of sky you find within its duration of around an hour. Like many who’ve seen, I would strongly recommend it to watch on BR version to enjoy the clarity. What is really pissed off to manage while watching it is reading those fast changing subtitles with not to miss beautiful images L It would be much better if the film had been dubbed in English for the other non-native audience.

Ratings-8.5/10

SPIRITED AWAY (Japanese) (2001)

They call him Japanese Walt Disney but Hayao Miyazaki has time and again proved that he is more than it. The unmatchable visual splendor of almost hand drawn animation and artistic imagination of Miyazaki cinema can’t be outdone even by gigabytes of today’s CGI driven 3D animation of Hollywood. This is my third Miyazaki film so far and I must say with his every new film that I’ve watched, he brought new and unchartered vistas of splendid visuals and unimaginable characters and fantasy world; a sheer proof of his creative depth and brilliant imagination.

Many critics called ‘Spirited Away’ as Miyazaki’s version of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and to certain degree I do agree especially in its theme and plot about a girl named Chihiro who along with her parents lost in the world of spirit while searching their way to new home. They land up in a mysterious isolated haunted place where soon her parents turned into pigs and as night casts its spell, she witnessed the world of strange spirits as fantastic as Wonderland. It’s world forbidden for human where she gets help from helping friend Haku. Poor girl has to perform almost unimaginable & multiple tasks to save her parents and helping Haku to find his own identity. But then apart of Lewis Carol’s beloved classic, Miyazaki achieved a great feat of depth and resonance that can woo any audience with its intricately beautiful visuals with his baggage of strange unusual creatures and characters. That multiple hand worker Kamaji or Yubaba and her sorceress sister Zeniba who transforms anything under the spell or that strange masked spirit following Chihiro or paper birds or water train and worth to mention that idiosyncratic bath scene of ugly creature, throughout the film I became a viewer as excited as ten years old child to fathom what will happen next.

So far my favorite Miyazaki film till day. Hail Studio Ghibli J

Ratings-10/10

PRINCESS MONONOKE (Japanese) (1997)

One of the most popular Japanese animation film that out grossed even ‘Titanic’ when released. It’s completely different Miyazaki compared to his almost ten years earlier light hearted child animation ‘My Neighbor Totoro’. It’s epical adventure where Nature is the character, plot and theme from beginning to end. I won’t exaggerate calling it Miyazaki’s ‘Avatar’.

While fighting with unusual demon monster, the last prince named Ashikata is cursed and infected with evil marks on his arms that soon made him die. The only way to survive for him is witnessing forbidden forest with eyes unclouded by hate. In a way he’s a symbol or Miyazaki’s passing cultural message to new generation. If his one arm is cursed with evil and the other is trying to curb it. Ashikata is facilitator and the central protagonist of the plot centers on the struggle between the animal spirits inhabiting in the forest Vs the humans exploiting the forest for industrial greed. In the forest he meets Lady Eboshi, who with an iron factory in a forest dreaming about ruling the world guided by her greedy and cunning fellow men and a wild wolf princess who hates humans for what they do to forest and help and repay Ashikata for saving her life once.

Weaving many of Japanese folklores and natural myths into cinematic fantasy, Miyazaki created awesome and sublime images of mother nature with forest spirits that gifts life and takes life away too. It has stunning natural visuals and watching closely some of them gives you glance of 3D effects in many of the scenes. Those good spirits and evil spirits in Ashitaka’s arduous journey to forest must be food of thought for Cameron’s blockbuster hit ‘Avatar’.

Quite unusual for animation film it has bloodshed and killing scenes but than it’s not just film for kids, Miyazaki has woven underlying themes of environment and ecology, the concerning questions of today’s world and that’s a big message for adults as well. What happens when good spirit of the forest who’s balancing the nature is beheaded by Lady Eboshi? It makes you feel pain watching all forest turning dead before getting its head back. But in the end it’s all fun watching those tiny tree spirits (seems like zoo zoos in Vodafone advertisements) making weird sound turning their heads once again.

Ratings-8.5/10

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (Japanese) (1988)

I’m not going to make movies that tell children, “You should despair and run away." - Hayao Miyazaki

What a beloved and beautiful animation film! Visually as enchanting as canvas full of resplendent water colors and so child centric in its detailing and expressions that invokes the emotions of innocence, curiosity, adventure and joy not only to kids but to elder audience too. The characters are so cute and so lifelike that they compel you love them the moments you see them on screen walking, running and expressing themselves with their big eyes and mouth. There’s no negative character, situation or a scene in the entire film, no villains and no preaching moral and yet every character immaterial of his short or long screen presence seem so lovable.

The film has two cute little sisters- 10 years old Satsuki and her mischievous and sweet 4 years little sister Mei arrived with their dear father to their new home around the forest. They’re exploring their new home which is may be haunted with tiny black creatures or may be a part of kids’ imagination. Exploring the neighborhood forest, both of the sisters witness a surprising giant creature. They named it Totoro who keeps giving them surprise appearances either in rain or in their dreams. Is Totoro real or just a figment of their imaginary fantasy world? Well, visionary writer-director Hayao Miyazaki kept Totoro a mystery and it remained best and dearest this way only.

As I grow watching more and more Japanese cinema, I must say that the country has produced many Masters encompassing many different genres. I’ve seen ‘Grave of Fireflies’, moving and one of the greatest animation film, released the same year with this light hearted film. It’s my first Hayao Miyazaki movie, the man known as ‘Japanese Walt Disney’ and after watching this one, I’m so desperate to watch all other Miyazaki masterpieces. Apart of many of his skills, I just loved the way he portrayed his characters in all its minute shades of childhood innocence, adventure and joy. We know that they’re mere cartoons and still they make us emotionally vulnerable watching them. There’re many scenes which I loved to watch repeatedly like- Mei’s first encounter with Totoro and having a carefree nap on tummy, Totoro’s play with umbrella, that wonderful Cat Bus and girls’ fantasy journey to witness their ill mom in hospital and absolutely fine background score along with those two wonderful songs in the beginning and ending titles.

One of the dearest animation film of all-time J

Ratings-10/10