Walt Disney Pictures opted not to give this new Studio Ghibli film, adapted from a graphic novel by the venerable animation house's mastermind Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his son, 46-year-old Goro, a nationwide release, and it instead found its way into the hands of a relatively tiny distributor. A very quiet springtime limited release ensued. I imagine the Mouse House executives were uncertain how to respond to, let alone advertise the film, which moves at a deliberate pace, contains no elements of the fantastic or otherworldly, and has a melancholic tone overall. It is a small gem, though, and I imagine it will find a receptive audience stateside, though it may consist more of adults than children.

Set in a Japanese seaside town on the eve of the 1964 Summer Olympics, the film turns on a tender friendship turned romance between two students, voiced well in the English-language version by Anton Yelchin and In America's Sarah Bolger. The pair bond as they fight to save a historic neighborhood clubhouse scheduled for destruction, but their situation is complicated when they discover a shared family secret from Japan's war-torn past. (A live-action film could have easily told the same story, which is not true of most Studio Ghibli productions.) The film's concerns and themes, including the importance of reconciling the past with the present instead of clinging to either, are overt, perhaps underlined too strongly at times with strained melodrama, yet the film still moves and rings true. This is in large part due to its gentle, regal sense of nostalgia and, to the surprise of no one, splendid animation. The realization of the central clubhouse, an enormous building coated with dust and cobwebs and crowded to the ceiling with artifacts, is a particularly notable feat of imagination.

B+

I honestly enjoyed this more than Ponyo.

Ponyo isn't that good.

Pleasant enough, although the brother sister stuff kinda caught me off guard and the film ends pretty abruptly though ending it with the putting up of the flags was appropriate. Not one of the stronger Ghibli films but I liked it.