Ponyo
Ponyo
Gake no ue no Ponyo
Directed by:
Hayao MiyazakiScreenplay:
Hayao MiyazakiCinematography:
Atsushi OkuiComposer:
Joe HisaishiCast:
Tomoko Yamaguchi, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Tomoko Naraoka, Yuki Amami, Rumi Hiragi, 左時枝, 羽鳥慎一, Keiko Tsukamoto, George Tokoro, Yusuke Tezuka, Eiko Kanazawa, Yuri TabataPlots(1)
Animated adventure by the Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's story 'The Little Mermaid'. When a feisty baby goldfish/mermaid called Ponyo (voiced by Noah Lindsey Cyrus) runs away from her home in the sea, she ends up stranded on the shore and is rescued by Sosuke (Frankie Jonas), a human boy who lives on a nearby clifftop. Ponyo yearns to become human herself so that she can be with Sosuke, but many obstacles stand in her way. Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Lily Tomlin and Liam Neeson lend their voices to the English version of the film. (StudioCanal UK)
(more)Reviews (3)
As has been said from many corners – the weakest I've seen from Miyazaki so far, and I've seen almost all of his work. I'd almost go so far as to say that this film ran out of steam, plagiarized itself a bit, and lacked the will to drag the film into something suspenseful. Even Kiki was basically a feel-good story where not much happens but we see her character develop, etc. That was missing here. Nothing really happened at all, unless you count little things like the old ladies getting out of their wheelchairs. A Little Mermaid story with no evil, no villains, but with five-year-olds. A colorful, peaceful story that is Miyazaki-esque but somehow soulless.
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Kiki's guileless fairytale mood meets the ecological message of Nausicaa and the mythological magic of Mononoke. A beautiful tale from a beautiful world, inspired by Norse myths (and one fairy tale), in which flying has been replaced by swimming and Miyazaki's poetic imagination has leapt up another rung. For kids? I don't think so. Certainly not for them.
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Is this a weaker Miyazaki? So be it, because it really doesn't matter at all. I don't see anything fundamentally weaker in it; on the contrary, there's amazing imagination here again, and it feels fresh to me. Right from the start there are scenes that are beautifully rendered, but most importantly they are imaginative. Simply creative caresses and beautiful characters.
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