From Up On Poppy Hill

“From Up on Poppy Hill,” released in 2011, takes a nice, nostalgic look at Japan in 1963, from the point of view of a schoolgirl who lives in the Yokohama neighborhood suggested in the title. A.O. Scott mentioned in his review, “Though it was written and “planned” by Hayao Miyazaki, perhaps the greatest living fantasist in world cinema (and directed by his son Goro), this movie, based on a manga by Chizuru Takahashi and Tetsuro Sayama, is a lovely example of the strong realist tendency in Japanese animation. Its visual magic lies in painterly compositions of foliage, clouds, architecture and water, and its emotional impact comes from the way everyday life is washed in the colors of memory.”

Umi, voiced by Sarah Bolger, has a house which neglects the water. Her father, a ship captain, died at sea during the Korean War and her mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) is studying in the U.S.A., having Umi help her grandmother (Edie Mirman) take care of her two younger siblings (Isabelle Fuhrman and Alex Wolff) and a house full of unusual boarders. Scott noted, “The lonely girl is a staple of the Miyazaki universe, and Umi’s melancholy, thoughtful manner suffuses the atmosphere of “From Up on Poppy Hill.””

However, this isn’t a completely sad story. Two combined stories come together from the schedules of home and school. Scott said, “One involves the effort to save the Latin Quarter, a dilapidated mansion where Umi’s male classmates convene to conduct scientific experiments, expound on philosophical matters and indulge in other forms of endearing dweebery.” After joining (along with her best friend, voiced by Emily Osment and Bridget Hoffman) in the campaign to stop its demolition, Umi starts to fall in love with the least nerdy boys, Shun, voiced by the late Anton Yelchin, despite their family histories are connected in ways that troubles their love.

Shun and Umi are young kids in a country looking forward to hosting the Olympics, but the darkness of war is hovering over them, much as it did in “My Neighbor Totoro,” Hayao Miyazaki’s magnificent story set in the 1950s. The certain tragedy that hangs in the background may not be good for kids, which means they will be depressed with the film’s sadness without being too mad at it. Meanwhile, adults are likely to feel happy with the love story and charmed by the soft description of a former but not completely forgotten time.

In the end, if you didn’t like Goro Miyazaki’s last attempt at filmmaking with “Tales from Earthsea,” I think you will be able to like this one. It’s a nice little feel good movie about saving a college building and also a sweet love story that could actually happen. Don’t think that it won’t happen because it might have happened in reality. My brother didn’t really like this one, but I think this was a good one that everyone should check out. You will love it, I promise.

Check in tomorrow when I look at, what Hayao Miyazaki said was going to be his final film, especially when he said that after “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away,” but he’s coming back for another one. It’s another film that takes place around war time, and I think it’s another really good one, but not one of my favorites, in “Studio Ghibli Month.”