In 1950s Japan, university professor Tatsuo and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, move into an old house to be closer to the hospital where the girls' mother, Yasuko, is recovering from a long-term illness. The house is inhabited by small, dark, dust-like house spirits called susuwatari which can be seen when moving from bright to dark places. One day, Mei discovers two small spirits who lead her into the hollow of a large camphor tree. She befriends a larger spirit, which identifies itself by a series of roars that she interprets as "Totoro".
Given its monumentally huge popularity throughout the world and animation cinema, few people have missed Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro. Even though the praise for it seems non-stop, it's still damn near impossible to be left disappointed. Miyazaki has created many fantastical and alluring worlds, but few such as inviting as the scenes in Totoro. The backgrounds of lush forests, sunsets over grassy hills, impossibly huge trees with explorable trunks turns the rural village into something truly magical.
It's also been said a million times but to place it in the category 'For kids' would be a sin. The appeal and the sense of wonder Miyazaki can evoke through his films is so strong that it doesn't matter if you're eight or eighty. What I found during my later rewatches was the masterful tempo Miyazaki sets for the film. There's several powerful 'pillow shots', where in-between scenes of action or emotional heaviness there's a cut to some mundane object or tranquil landscape to "soften" the impact of the scene, also known as being a trademark of Yasujiro Ozu (Late Spring). Seeing it here makes it clear Miyazaki is far above the aim of just wanting to entertain the smaller ones.
Genre: Animation/Comedy/Family. 1h 26min.
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