From Up On Poppy Hill is a Studio Ghibli drama set in the 1960's. Much
like Ghibli's other 1960's period drama, Only Yesterday, there is no specific
reason for the film to be animated. The
story follows coming of age high school students Umi Matsuzaki and Shun
Kazama as they try to save an old club house from redevelopment.
The script was co-written by Hayao Miyazaki and based on a manga of the
same name. The story, without getting
into spoilers, is well written and generally moving. Like all Ghibli films, Poppy Hill is romantic
in nature; rejecting both urbanism and modernism.
And like many of Hayao's movies
it contains well intended chauvinism and stereotypical gender roles. Unique for Hayao, Poppy Hill does touch on
post-war political issues that are still controversial in Japan.
Unlike 2010's Arrietty, the art in Poppy is nothing special. There are few grand vistas for the viewer to
get lost in. Poppy Hill is always grounded in
reality and never loses itself to the surreal that Ghibli is so good at. Director Gorō Miyazaki fails to utilize the
format to enhance the plot and never ventures into the post-modernism of older Ghibli films. There is nothing for the viewer to interpret.
An English language version will be released in the United States in
March, 2013. And for the first time in
over a decade the US theatrical release will not be created by Disney. Art house animation distributor GKIDS has put
together the translation which I have not seen. 3/4 stars
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