Arrietty - Ghibli's latest masterpiece had me from hello

Finally I got the chance to watch the movie "Karigurashi no Arrietty", Studio Ghibli's latest animation movie. Being a fan of most their previous work, I couldn't help watching this movie with a great bunch of expectations.

The plot is based on a novel by Mary Norton ("Borrowers", never read it) and describes a short span in the life of Arrietty, a 14-year-old girl only a few inches tall, who has been living under the floorboards of a house with her family - unseen and unnoticed - for as long as she can remember. One day, the cardiac (human, just to mention it) boy Sho moves into the house, merely strong enough to walk, and by coincidence sees the girl.



Arrietty is Ghibli in all its glory : With endless love for Detail, the artists depict life in all its little imperfect ways, showing the beauty and fulfillment a simple life offers. Though being technically up-to-date (Ponyo was created completely traditional, Arrietty uses digital art as well), the main focus of the movie is the characters' relation to nature and life. I've always loved the way Ghibli teaches us modesty, and Arrietty is one more in the line of their movies doing so. Vibrant and harmonious colors dominate the tone, and as in Totoro or Ponyo, there's no villains as such (just the odd, mislead but generally good-hearted family member).

This time around, the director's chair is filled by Yonebayashi-San, who gives an incredibly stunning debut with it. He must be a really devoted fan of Miyazaki-San's work, since the movie is filled with references to it all over. Just to mention a few:

- pathway up to the house looks very much like the Totoro one
- When Sho enters the garden for the first time, a cat and a crow fight there (The cat returns)
- Sho's Grandma is called Haru (The cat returns)
- Fish passing under the Teapot remind of the giant beasts in Ponyo after the city is inundated.

Like Miyazaki-San, Yonebayashi-San is a great observer and shows exactly those things that matter, for example when a 14-year-old girl dresses up for meeting a boy.



The music in this movie comes from the feather of Cecile Corbel and sounds rather light-weight and joyful (not symphonic, sounds rather celtic in many ways), compared to the stuff Joe Hisaishi delivers. This adds to the relaxed atmosphere, and really leaves nothing to wish for (although I'm a fan of Hisaishi's work and hope to hear from him the next time).

I say : Yes, I've found another movie I can have my kids watch without the fear of spoiling them, and that's a rare find these days. It is great to see that Ghibli remains true to its love to nature, and I hope that this masterpiece will get all the claim it deserves.

Why Ong Is Not Really Bak (Or: The Not-So-Sequel By Tony Jaa)

When I first heard the words "Ong Bak 2", I thought to myself "What, you mean Tom Yum Goong?". But I was taught it was true, a real Sequel! How grand must this be?

I have to admit I don't keep track of Martial Arts movies that much anymore, but Ong Bak 2 came to me as a real surprise. In fact, I only ever heard about it
when it was already released!

So I did all I could to get my hands on this movie, cough, and watched it with expectations that were impossible to fulfill, even by Tony Jaa standards. During the course of the movie, I felt my enthusiasm die away, bit by bit, until after the whole length of it a kind of "so, that was that..."-feeling remained.

The Sequel, as it turned out, is only a sequel by name, a marketing trick. Other than that, nothing even references to Ong Bak. To be precise, I even wonder whether the meaning of "Ong Bak" may be something like "Kick Ass", since that is the only thing the two movies have in common.

It's not a bad movie at all, It's just not Ong Bak. And it is way below Tom Yum Goong, as well. Much more swordplay and Jaa performing too many different styles altogether (It's hard to surpass what he's done in his previous movies) make it hard to see the real badass stuff that we used to get.