Whispers of the Heart (Mimi wo sumaseba) [1995]

[miriam_e]

I watched it again last night during dinner. Oh my! I had forgotten what a wonderful movie that is. I had tears of joy at one point -- not because a scene with conflict and tension had turned out good, but because a lovely scene had turned out so utterly wonderful (the scene where the old musicians joined in).

The animation, like the scenery artwork is simply breathtaking. The story finds beauty in the everyday at each turn and breathes life into the normality of its subjects while making their hopes and dreams soar.

It is not a story without conflict or unhappiness, but it's very close. This really has to be one of the most beautiful stories I've ever seen.

Comments

[nosearmy.livejournal.com]

i don't remember if i've seen this or not. I will have to check it out...there is another movie of his that I don't know the title to, where a student stays in a farming community....ring a bell?

i also wanted to let you know i posted a Miyazaki music video on my Tumblr blog. It's pretty interesting!

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Could it be "Only Yesterday"?
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/opp/
I haven't seen it but it does sound lovely.

I'm on very slow dialup and my net-connected computer is the slowest of all my machines so watching streaming video is pretty-much no-go for me. I'll try to remember to check it out when I go up to Mum & Dad's place on Tuesday. Thanks. :)

[nosearmy.livejournal.com]

Yes! The version I have is a Jaanese import and doesn't even have an English title on the subtitles. This is another Ghibli film that's extremely light on conflict, a charming kind of movie, but moves a little slowly. However, the animation, as always, is incredible--I thought it was Miyazaki when I first watched it, but it doesn't contain any of his themes.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Did you know that the translation of the script is online at
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/opp/script_opp_en.txt

Ripping the DVD might be an option so that you could add subtitles. Might be more work than it's worth though. Alternatively I can imagine a simple way of playing the video on computer while setting up a thin window at the bottom with the english script in it. Then you could simply down-arrow during the story and match the two that way.

[nosearmy.livejournal.com]

That's interesting, I never thought of that since occasionally you do find DVDs without an English subtitle track--but this movie does have subtitles. what I meant is that the English subtitles only refer to the film by its Japanese name in the credits--so I wasn't sure of the name in English.

[nosearmy.livejournal.com]

More info on the music video:

On Your Mark

It says is was a double feature with Whisper of the Heart. I'd be interested to know if this is included on other releases of the film.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I haven't found it in the shops yet. Until I do I have to make do with a rip that was on the net some time back.

I hate the fact that Disney apparently own the rights to some of the Ghibli stuff in the English-speaking world, so I might be paying one of the more vicious opponents of file-sharing for a movie that I wouldn't have found out about were it not for filesharing. If I see Disney or MPAA on the DVD then I'll have some serious soul-searching as to whether I cough up the money or not.

If Studio Ghibli still own it then I'll have no such problem.

[nosearmy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't realize this is the movie with the two cats who were also in The Cat Returns. I would recommend that one as well, so I will have to check this one out. About a year later I saw Howl's Moving Castle and I thought there were some similarities although they they are very different movies...now I can't recall any specifics.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

The cat you mention is the "Baron" -- a cat dressed in clothes, holding a cane. It actually plays a minor part in the Whispers of the Heart story, so the link is quite tenuous. Nevertheless, I'll keep my eye out for The Cat Returns. Thanks. :)

[sharpblonde.livejournal.com]

I love Hayao Miyazaki. I assume you've tried to work your way through them all? I haven't seen them all, but I plan to! I think I've only seen about 5. I've gotta work on that :P

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

:) heheh I'm embarrassed to admit I only recently realised how many there are and that they all come from more or less the same place. So far I've seen:
- My Neighbour Totoro
- Whisper of the Heart
- Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
- Laputa
- Princess Mononoke
- Porco Rosso
- Spirited Away (though I find that one a little too disturbing)
- Grave of the Fireflies (I and everybody in the theatre left at the end with eyes streaming tears)
- The Castle of Cagliostro

Wow! That's more than I realised! I thought I'd only seen about 4.
There are quite a few more I still want to see.

I'd be delighted to send you some if you can't find them anywhere or can't afford them yet.