When Marnie Was There Studio Ghibli Delivers With Its Potential Swansong

After Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement, it was declared that Studio Ghibli would be taking a hiatus following the release of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There. That hiatus had been reported as short, long, or indefinite, with many speculating that the latter of those two films could be the final entry in the Ghibli ?uvre. Well, if that winds up being the case, the studio’s punctuation mark is a strong one. The story being told here is that of 12-year-old Anna (voice of Sara Takatsuki in Japanese, Hailee Steinfeld in English), a schoolyard loner who suffers from asthma and maybe depression. She has an attack and is ordered by doctors to spend the summer with relatives in the countryside under the belief that the clean air will do her some good. She spends her time sketching, eating delicious food, and playing with Marnie (Kasumi Arimura/Kiernan Shipka). Given that this is a Studio Ghibli film, you should come in expecting gorgeous visuals. In that regard, When Marnie Was There delivers in spades. The animation is fantastic, the backgrounds are all works of art, and the way that water and grass moves is tremendous. Even if the story is taking too long to get to a certain point for you, you’re always going to have something to look at in terms of the visuals. The director is Hiromasa Yonebayashi, here taking the director role for the second time – the first being with The Secret World of Arrietty – and he’s made a film that simply looks incredible. If you’re any sort of animation fan, you owe it to yourself to see When Marnie Was There simply for its visual prowess. Think about how many films tackle the emotional volatility of a 12-year-old girl. Consider how many of them repeat a line like “I hate myself.” When Marnie Was There might be a simple story, but the story it’s telling is well worth watching. You don’t get these types of stories often, and when we do, they’re worth celebrating. This is a film that will speak to the pre-teen girls in the audience, but will also provide enough for the adults. Like most of Pixar’s catalog, it’s a family movie, not a children’s movie; it’s appropriate for everyone, and everyone can gain something from it. When Marnie Was There might not be the strongest or most exciting entry into the Studio Ghibli canon, but as the potential swansong – and let’s hope it’s not – it fills the role perfectly fine. It’s a slow burn, it delivers significant depth to its characters, and it’s absolutely gorgeous from start to finish. It wraps up too quickly, it is a bit too slow at times, and its melodramatic approach to the story might be tough for some to handle, but for those willing to stick with it, it’s a rewarding watch. Bottom Line: It may potentially be the last film from Studio Ghibli, and it’s a pretty solid one. Recommendation: This is a story worth hearing that’s told in a film worth watching. [rating=3.5]