My Pal Marnie: When Marnie Was There
Howdy, howdy, folks! I’m back this week after a nice vacation to
dish out the last review of Miyazaki May.
This week’s pick is among the latest in Studio Ghibli’s arsenal of
movies. However, it is one of the few
Ghibli films that Miyazaki didn’t make.
As most otakus and Ghibli fans know, Miyazaki announced his retirement
after the release of The Wind Rises. Regardless, Miyazaki or not, this week’s film
is one that should not be missed! So
enough of my blabbing and let’s get on with this week’s review of When Marnie Was There.
Studio Ghibli’s latest film follows
Anna as she stays with distant relatives for the summer as she recovers from an
asthma attack. It is also revealed later
in the film that she is a foster child.
During her stay in the coastal town, Anna finds an abandoned mansion
located near a marsh. She immediately
feels a connection with the house and soon after starts having dreams about a
young girl who presumably lives there and even notices the lights turn on
during high tide. After a fight at a local
festival, Anna runs to the marsh, finds a boat, and rows to the mansion. When she reaches the mansion, she meets
Marnie, the girl from her dreams. This
meeting is cut short, but the two agree to meet the following night. That evening, a party is taking place. Marnie disguises Anna with a shawl and basket
of flowers and claims she’s a flower girl, and the two dance outside later
on. Locals find Anna asleep outside sometime
later and take her back home. Anna tries
to meet with Marnie again, but is unable to for some strange reason. During this time, she meets a local artist
named Hisako, who tells her that a Tokyo family has moved into the mansion and
begun making renovations. When Anna goes
to the house to investigate, a little girl named Sayaka identifies her as
Marnie. Sayaka then reveals that she
found a diary belonging to a girl named Marnie.
In it, Anna finds a story about this same Marnie dancing with a “flower
girl” at one of her parents’ parties, and that several pages of the diary are
missing.
Marnie reappears shortly
after. Anna reveals that she learned that
the government has been paying her foster parents an allowance that helps pay
for her expenses. This makes Anna feel
that her parents don’t love her. Marnie
also reveals that her parents are gone all the time, leaving her with two
abusive maids and an abusive nanny.
Also, on more than one occasion, the maids have threatened to lock
Marnie in the old silo, which is said to be haunted. Anna then decides that she and Marnie will go
to the silo, not knowing that Sayaka found an important clue about Marnie’s
identity. During their stay in the silo,
a storm hits, frightening Marnie. Anna
stays close to her and falls asleep.
However, she awakes to find Marnie has disappeared, causing Anna to flee
the silo and frantically search for her.
Sayaka and a local boy find her passed out in the woods and very
sick. As Anna recuperates, she confronts
Marnie in a dream sequence asking her why she left her. Marnie apologizes and the two are able to
forgive each other. After Anna recovers,
Sayaka tells her that she found the missing pages and a painting of the mansion
for Hisako. Anna and Sayaka confront
Hisako about Marnie, and reveals her story: Marnie had a very lonely and sad
childhood with her parents constant traveling and the abuse and neglect from
the maids and nanny. As an adult, she
married her childhood friend, Kazuhiko, and the two started their own family
not long after. However, Kazuhiko died
of an unknown illness, causing Marnie to fall into a depression in which she
commits herself to a hospital and send her daughter Emily to boarding
school. This shatters the relationship
between the two, and Emily soon runs away, gets married, and has a child of her
own. Unfortunately, Emily and her
husband are killed in a car crash, leaving Marnie to care for their
daughter. This is short lived when
Marnie herself dies shortly after, leaving the little girl in foster care. Towards the end, Anna’s foster mother, Yoriko,
comes to take Anna home, also confessing to the subsidies that she receives from
the government. Anna claims she knew
about this, but doesn’t care about it anymore.
Marnie’s true identity is also revealed, which is…not going to be mentioned
in this review because finding out who Marnie is is the best part of the movie
(more on that in a moment)!
There are probably few animes, both
shows and films, that I could call perfect.
When Marnie Was There is
probably one of those few; this film gets a perfect five star score! The story is probably the best selling point
of the film. I like that not all of the puzzle
pieces are put together at the beginning and that they come together at the
very end of the film. Also, it’s fun
trying to find out Marnie’s true identity and how she and Anna are
connected. But finding out the truth is
probably the best part of the whole movie.
It’s the perfect shock factor to leave you breathless and subtle enough not
to be too out there. You could almost
picture M. Night Shyamalan popping out and going, “What a tweest!”-but let’s try
not picturing that.
Overall, there really aren’t any
downsides to the film, although if you hate mysteries, this may not be the best
movie for you. Trying to put the plot’s
puzzle pieces together can be tedious, but still, this movie is worth it from beginning
to surprising end!
I’ll admit, I did more talking
about the actually movie than really reviewing.
Still, all things considered, that’s a good thing. Why?
Cause this movie is just that good! When
Marnie Was There is available wherever anime is sold. And if you still don’t believe me that this
movie is just that good, it was nominated for this year’s racist Academy Awards (that’s a joke, FYI) for
the Best Animated Film Oscar. And with
that review done, that’s all for this week!
Tune in next Sunday for the conclusion of Miyazaki May where I reveal
Character of the Month!
-Hanime
on Anime
Comments
Post a Comment