The Shrine

All the stuff is kind of split up between different threads, so I figured I’d make a more centralized one.

21 Ghibli films have appeared on Netflix,

I’ve watched two: From up on Poppy Hill and Porco Rosso.

From up on Poppy Hill is a coming of age story about a girl who lost her father in the Korean War and puts up flags every day hoping he’ll come home. It’s very quaint compared to other Miyazaki films, and while some may have subtle mature themes that will fly over the head of children, I felt this one probably doesn’t offer much for the age group it seems to be aimed at: given it’s a teenage coming of age story. I liked how the plot was done, which was basically world building and character development, establishing the layers and intricacies between them, their motivations, and their plans to serve those motivations. There’s something charming with how mundane everything is, kind of like The Peanuts or Garfield. And... There’s A LOT of subtle hints toward the plot, which gives the film a lot of 1940s/50s feeling to it, where films were made differently; from about the mid-80s onward, film plots became... well, more plotty, and things like emotional distress, or something like a look of falling in love, stopped factoring into what would be considered a plot point: from the 80s onward plot points became rather explicit and absolute rather than allowing the viewer to experience the film for themselves. I think From up on Poppy Hill captures that old style of plot quite well. I think the best way to sum it up is beauty in the mundane, much like many great 50s films or a Peanuts film.

Porco Rosso is a dark comedy/action film which features a guy who suffered some kind of curse during the First World War. Like From up on Poppy Hill, this one is FILLED with subtlety. There are A LOT of pig jokes in it - as in, he’s a chauvinist womanizer. When a young 17 year old female mechanic fixes his plane and makes it better than it had ever been before, he and she make an escape from Italy while being chased by fascists (who are constantly trying to kill him). There’s a line that goes something like:
Porco: “I’m a pig, and you’re a young woman. I have nothing more than an island hideout with a single tent.”
Fio: “That’s OK! I like camping!”

So, it seems she doesn’t really get a lot of what he’s talking about, or rather interprets it differently.

The plot is not as uniquely crafted as From up on Poppy Hill, but it’s still not entirely plane either. The film is not about mundane features of life, but a rather over-the top action type film with dog fights that look like something right out of Starfox 64. The deeper plot beneath the action story is the transformation of character.

I’d say if you’re someone who likes everything on the nose, Porco Rosso is probably the film for you as it has a large entertainment focus layer above the more subtle comedy/emotional one. If you like plots that are unique and are a fan of subtlety and artistry in filmmaking, I think you’ll love both films. Porco Rosso has a deeper layer beneath the more shallow entertainment one, and From up on Poppy Hill dwells almost completely in that deeper layer (until the latter parts, at least).

Also, Michael Keaton plays Porco with his Batman voice.

I think I've watched enough to have a ranking. It doesn't match up with the typical ranking lists, as usually they stick all the Miyazaki stuff first and then start ranking everything else almost arbitrarily. To me, a lot of lists look like they only watched the Miyazaki films and a few minutes of the others to get a sense of what order they wanted to put them in, or if they wanted to intersperse them with the Miyazaki films they didn't like. Sometimes they actually watch them, and a film like Whisper of the Heart is up in the top 3.

There are 13 I really like, somewhat in this order:
1. Princess Mononoke
2. When Marnie Was There
2. Kiki's Delivery Service
4. From Up on Poppy Hill
5. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
6. Only Yesterday
6. Porco Rosso
6. Whisper of the Heart
9. Spirited Away
9. Howl's Moving Castle
11. Castle in the Sky
12. Grave of the Fireflies
13. The Wind Rises

And ones I didn't get into:
My Neighbour Totoro
Pom Poko
Ponyo


I kind of feel bad putting The Wind Rises at the bottom of the list, and Grave of the Fireflies at 12 because I enjoyed them. It's just there were 11 other fantastic films I enjoyed more. Most will put Spirited Away at #1, and most of the rest put Princess Mononoke at that position.

I liked Spirited Away quite a lot, but I didn't connect to the character or story as strongly as I did others, but the visuals are phenomenal. One thing about Spirited Away I don't buy at all is the fan theory that it's a metaphor for a whore house -- I didn't find that when watching it, and apparently Miyazaki didn't think that either. I know in most places I'd get flamed for saying this - but I found Spirited Away is a bit of a drag. The second time I watched it, I found myself going to my phone a lot because I just wanted it to move faster. That's probably the main reason why I stuck it lower on my list. I would say I have the same criticisms every film I ranked equal to or below it.

Whisper of the Heart, as a result, is a big jump from Spirited Away for me. Then I'd say the jump from the triple tie at #6 to Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is another big jump - and I might place this one a bit high due to bias as I've been a fan of this one for decades and have seen it at least a dozen times. Then my top 4 films are all quite close together.

I wouldn't be surprised if I put Whisper of the Heart up higher, later after a rewatch or two. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Porco Rosso I'm confident of their ranking below my top 4 in that order.

On what I didn't like. My Neighbour Totoro is often in the top 3, I am not sure why. I don't fault people for liking this one a lot, but I really felt nothing for any of the characters, the theme, or anything really. It has some interesting art, but I found it overly simplistic, so it didn't make my list. I don't think I need to comment on the other two as they typically don't make the top 10 on lists.

As for my very favourites:

Princess Mononoke is my favourite because I really enjoy the plot, the characters, the societies, how those societies clash. It's action packed, and this will be the hook for most people. I found I didn't appreciate it until my second or third watch (first time was back in the nineties, second a few years back, and I've watched it a few times in the past couple of years. The much wider cast means you don't spend as much time with characters either. But overall, this one kept me thinking about it for days after each viewing. I also find it's one that really draws me in like few other animated films do.

When Marnie Was There I've seen at the bottom of lists, and I think those are people who quit before the story got going, as the first 20 minutes or so are spent on introducing Anna. I don't want to spoil it (or any of the films). For me this is the most hard hitting/heavy film on the list... and this list have Grave of the Fireflies on it - which IMO is hard/heavy hitting, but its reputation probably exceeds the reality of it, as there are people who won't even watch it based on its reputation. This is not a Miyazaki film, so it's rarely going to rank high on most lists.

Kiki's Delivery Service is the exact opposite of When Marnie Was There, it is very light hearted. I couldn't decide which one I liked better, because When Marnie Was There is a much harder rewatch, while Kiki's Delivery Service is one of the most rewatchable films I've ever seen - up there with Hitchcock's Rear Window and Kevin Smith's Clerks, and Naked Gun 2 & 1/2. They're not particularly comparable. I have it at number 2, tied, because it's been my favourite most of the time since the 1990s and I've probably seen it 30+ times. The film is like a light-hearted joyride across a bunch of beautiful locations, and even though Kiki is effectively living the life of a homeless drifter, everything is fairly happy. This film, IMO, has aged better than Nausicaa did.

From Up on Poppy Hill is a straight forward film until toward the end when things twist around and become interesting. This is one I ended up watching a second time soon after the first, and might have liked the second watch even more than the first. Like Princess Mononoke, this film has a large cast, but the characters are more relatable as they aren't fantasy based. Another non-Hayao Miyazaki film, this one was done by his son Goro. I haven't seen the other two, but I have heard bad things.

The only Miyazaki film I liked was On Your Mark because it was short enough that it doesn't bother me with either the 'earth good, human bad' or 'capitalism bad, peasants good' themes. I mean yeah technically it's another one of those earth good human bad films, but since they didn't actually talk or anything in the film it wasn't really in the way. Not that his films are particularly bad, but I didn't think they were anything exceptional to put up with a very obvious preachy tone.

That’s a very different take than I have. I wouldn’t describe any of the Ghibli or Miyazaki films as “human bad and earth good” or “peasants good, capitalism bad.”

The only one I’d describe as touching on the themes you described is Princess Mononoke, as it features both nature spirits as a faction and peasants. Lady Eboshi takes social outcasts, including prostitutes, thieves, and lepers, and forms a society, much like a medieval Manor, with the purpose of extracting the wealth of the iron sands. This puts her into a conflict with the regional Lord and regional nature spirits. Lady Eboshi appears to have the advantage, as she’s using the resource + foreign technology. There’s no capitalism involved, as this takes place in a pre-capitalist feudal setting. Even though Lady Eboshi is in charge of Iron Town, she’s hardly a capitalist - more like a Saigō Takamori style leader, except with the opposite values—Takamori was a samurai traditionalist who was against the foreign technology used by the Meiji Imperial faction.

The story begins with Ashitaka travelling to this part of the world (Iron Town region) after a forest demon curses him looking for a cure. The curse is both devouring him and making him stronger - so it’s both his fatal flaw and unique strength. When he gets to Iron town, he becomes involved in the conflict between these factions. The seemingly irreconcilable difference, resulting in violence and warfare is the real antagonist here. The only non-abstract/tangible bad guys I can think of are the forest demons - which is precisely the opposite of “earth good, human bad” type conflict. The conflict exists as the primary obstacle between Ashitaka and the cure to his curse.

Aside from the aforementioned nature demons, none of the factions are depicted as good or bad, but rather with different objectives. While each faction has their own sets of moral and obligations, it’s really up to the viewer to decide what they like and what they don’t - but any initial opinions are probably going to be thrown on their faces, as the true nature is the three factions are somewhat grey-spectrum, with each having elements that conflict with one another. I found the film to be the exact opposite of preachy in this respect, as it doesn’t force the viewer into any position - and rather leads the viewer to question their biases in the conflicts.

In the end, the conflict is solved after defeating the forest demons - particularly their demon god. Ashitaka is the instrument of peace between them all. Basically, each of the factions become better people as a result, there wasn’t really a winner or loser - though lives were lost, and destruction occurred. Rebuilding something better and in peace was the resolution of that obstacle, and Ashitaka’s curse was cured.

I personally enjoyed this story quite a lot, and the Akira-inspired animation in the later portions was interesting. I think my favourite part of the film was the exploration of the society of Iron Town - mostly because I’m a fan of medieval society and social engineering in general. I thought it had a great ending as well, not being really on the nose with the conclusions beyond resolving the major conflicts. Other interesting things: the relationship between San and Ashitaka, Ashitaka’s role in Iron Town, and whether or not he would return home to his village, are all left open to viewer imagination.