miyazaki and his films

USA, I'd imagine, and I'm willing to bet it'll be the mediocre dub. Ah well, better than nothing!

 

mononoke was dubbed by neil gaiman, though, that used to be one the reasons i wanted to see it in english

is the spirited away dub really that bad?

 

Actually, Turner Classic Movies showed both sub and dub during the Miyzaki film festival.

I like the dub version! I usually listed to the sub version first, but the sub on SA didn't sound bad at all to me.

And after watching it again recently, I found one moment to be similar to the naming of DV scene in ROTS. When Chohiro signs her contract with Yubaba, the witch lifts characters of the girls name until only her "new" name is left; Yubaba takes away her "real" name and dubs her Sen. The taking/giving of names gives her a power over her employees; the only way for them to get home is to remember their real name. In ROTS, Sidious shows his power over Anakin by renaming him DV, replacing the name of his "real self".

PM was the first miyazaki film I saw, but it really didn't make me a huge fan. Then I just fell in love with SA, and am so glad John Lassiter helped get these movies over here.

 

the naming thing is very common as a linguistic device to show power. also in alice in wonderland OR behind the mirrors, humpty dumpty plays with names for things and concepts, it can be funny, but i can also be used magically. i heard that members of wicca (is that the operative term?) also get a new name once they enter the order, just like nuns and monks. i suppose it helps build a new identity.

interesting nonetheless.

 

I can't believe I haven't properly posted in this thread before.

I hang my head in shame.

Out of Miyazaki's films I've seen, in order:

Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Howl's Moving Castle
The Cat Returns

I really wanna see Porco Rosso, Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro.

But why so little love for Howl? I think it has to be my favourite Miyazaki work. I think maybe people think it's a little on the weird side, but personally I think that it's that very thing which makes it work so well. I just love the bit when Howl and Sofie are flying above the town square where everyone is dancing, but then I'm just a sucker for flying, it's so cool . I also just love the music, I'm currently hunting for the soundtrack.

Also I had a major schoolwork deadline recently and it was having Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away on my telly while I was working that helped me not get totally stressed out. They are just such lovely, funny, sweet films that are full of adventure and you just can't feel upset or stressed after you've watched them.

So watching Miyazaki films lowers the levels of stress in a person. It's a health warning all should make note of

 

hello to this!

yeah, my lack of love for howl seems to have clouded this thread.. i don't remember much from it, to be honest, i remember liking howl and how frightened he was and how vain, too. but i had a hard time just understanding the story to the extent that i knew why people were running into the respective directions. i just couldn't really get involved.

if i can get a friend of mine to join tfn she would tell you that she greatly enjoyed it and also found something in it. and i just didn't. it's my loss, i guess, not miyazaki's.

i guess with totoro and chihiro and a****aka.. i could relate to these guys more. especially with princess mononoke, i wanted to like it badly and it kept its promise and delivered on many levels. that time i was just searching for animation that wasn't run-of-the-mill singalong, cute sidekick stuff. a****aka embodies so many things. it just makes sense to me. also the idea of the forest god who isn't benevolent in that sense, who gives and takes and seems to have this grander plan. it's just very exciting.
maybe with howl it was more about seeing europe and i have had that from heidi and such back then when i was a kid.

 

I have seen My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, and Nausicaa.



I happen to like the dub version of the movie. They seem to get some good actors to do it. I can recognize most of them. I might me biased, but Mark Hamill as Muska in Castle in the Sky was sweet.

 

TCM was just too incredibly cool for showing these films. My daughter, my husband and I have enjoyed relaxing in the evenings and watching these - I'm excited about the Miyazaki son is working on an animated version of "Earthsea."

 

oh wow, that is great news! i found some info here.

 

I saw Whisper of the Heart for the first time yesterday. It was great and even if it's not directed by Miyazaki his influence is obvious (Screenplay and storyboards are by Miyazaki)!
Looking forward to the next movie by Miyazaki!

 

I just finished Howl's Moving Castle and I have to say I think it's my favorite of the films of his I've seen. I love all of them but, for me, this one had all the elements working for it.

 

YES!

More love for Howl!

 

I think I didn't quite get Howl's Moving Castle


Castle in the Sky is in cinemas here currently... how's that one? Good enough to go alone? (don't have anyone to watch animes with )

 

Spirited away is a particulary odd film and a weird storyline. however i still thinks its great tale!

 

I watched Kiki's Delivery Servie today.

Thought it was alright. Very sweet, but nothing that made me go "woah". Great film for little kids though I'd imagine.

 

Another great thread here frared!

You all have talked about Spirited Away and Princess Monoke, two movies I really love, especially PM, for some reason it comes across as cinematic, though it can be a bit message heavy, it's one flaw. But, yes, A****aka's plight is worth watching and the music in this one is so good too. Sometimes, some of the other animes really fall down in this dept.

Porco Rosso (his most 'adult' film. Kinda.)

I adore this film! I love the character, I mean he's a flying pig for crying out loud and yet, he could be Humphrey Bogart and Clark Cable all rolled into one, and his story is so poignant, charming and full of whimsy. It actually make's me ache to go back to the Adriatic when I see this film.

Grave of the Fireflies (this one's by Takahata, his longtime collaborator, but it's EXTREMELY good, and rather difficult to watch)

Oh yes, very difficult to watch. I find this movie, one of the saddest things I have ever seen. There's a particular moment when the little girl admits to having known something all along (won't say what, in case I spoil it) to her brother, and he just breaks down, that has me crying for their sad lives. Just thinking about it gives me a lump in the throat. This movie will devastate you the first time you see it. When my husband and I first came away from a viewing we were gutted.

 

no idea. it's miyazaki, though. so it oughta be.

i have the opposite problem: someone to tag along with, no animes in the cinema

good to see you here, dark disciple

 

Right back at ya frared.

I have the same problem here, no animes at the cinema. Even the dvd rental shops are pretty ordinary in this regard, it's all Dragon Ball Z, not that I mind those, but I just love a bit of diversity.

 

it's probably getting better. i just don't check for much, it's always this thing that you'd have to know what you're looking for first and in germany animation anything is being treated as a kids affair. oddly enough SW is also marketed to kids, i think because it has space ships *sigh*

kiki and the castle in the sky and the newer miyazaki films got a wider reception. as animation for kids, though hence i guess stuff like ghost in the shell doesn't really end up on many big screens. kids wouldn't like it much and adults think they're too old. an unfortunate conundrum.

 

i finally got around to watch castle in the sky because it's been reissued (or maybe it's never been on our screens before) and shown on the big screen here!

i must say it was wonderfully enjoyable and every bit as complex, involved and epic as i expect miyazaki to tell stories.

[image=http://www.einsiders.com/reviews/dvd/images/castleinthesky1.jpg]

i especially fell in love with the robot design and the design of all the flying devices. they seemed modern and ancient, organic and mechanical at the same time. seeing how the robots were basically travelling as packages and then would unfold to deadly machines... well, it was just great design. a recurring theme in the film was the old man/machine dichotomy about how they preserve the garden on the floating island or are capable of destroying people as well. it made me reflect on the nature of protectiveness, and as much as i wanted the robots to be either good or bad in the end they were, much like humans, capable of doing both due to their immense power and i liked how sheeta was both frightened by the power the robot held and also tried countering it by putting herself on the line. it's just very impressive.

i was just again, amazed by the depth of characterization and lack of stereotyping. i find that these films can seem to drag a bit but on the second viewing, when i know what they will still hold in store for me, i patiently sit back and take in every scene by itself.

one more astounding thing about the movie: it has vast silences. that one is so seldom in modern cinema, i think, i wanted to hold my breath.

 

I saw Howls Moving Castle the other week and thought it was fantastic.



I've just started watching Spirited away and I have to say I really enjoying that at the moment as well (although I do have some issues with the parental characterisations at the start)


Next up are to be Pricess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro and Pollo Rosso.



Provided they continue to be enjoyable I shall be happy.

 

I picked up My Neighbor Toturo, but I haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

 

Watched Princess Mononoke on one of the movie channels the other night. I thought it was a bit too long and dragged in spots. I must say I liked Spirited Away a lot more.

 

I thought spirited away and princess mononoke. They we're awesome.

 

Princess Mononoke was the first Miyazaki film I've seen, and it is definitely my favorite. Since then I've seen Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Next up is Castle in the Sky!