In the beautiful and fantastical worlds of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki is praised for his ability to tell compelling stories about humanity. Chihiro is just a lost girl looking for her parents. Kiki is learning to grow up with independence. Porco is an insecure man (pig?) who learns to be comfortable in his own skin. But often overlooked (in my humble opinion) is Isao Takahata, who directed Only Yesterday, Grave of the Fireflies, The Tale of Princess Kaguya.
Takahata’s movies are frequently on the other end of the spectrum from Miyazaki: fantasy is a subdued, dreamy state of a realistic and relatable story.
What I really like about this:
His characters are primarily about people escaping from reality through pure imagination
Cmd + Shift + 4’d from my laptop Sitcom-like sense of social expectation and responsibility; sometimes this just means telling stories that resonate deeply about an untold experience
Right-clicked on from BBC As with all Studio Ghibli movies, Takahata’s are painstakingly detailed and hand-drawn; there is no compromise on the vision
Right-clicked on from Medium The vision doesn’t have to be just about detailed art though – Takahata is also able to build meaning through adding detail to just the things that matter, like facial expressions of characters
Right-clicked on from The Studio Ghibli Collection In fact, his final film – The Tale of the Princess Kaguya – took nearly 14 years to make but looks stunningly simple; it is a peak of addition by subtraction
Right-clicked on from BFI He followed his curiosity; for Ghibli’s first film post-Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Takahata and Miyazaki scouted locations in Yanagawa for their next film – Takahata allegedly became fascinated by the historic canal system and decided to throw half of Ghibli’s funds into making a full, live documentary about them
After blowing through most of the cash, apparently Takahata convinced Miyazaki to make Castle in the Sky so they would have more money for the doc
He straight up didn’t draw lol (this maybe less “what I like” and more just “what I found really interesting”)
For someone who co-founded an animation studio primarily known for its ability to build new worlds, Isao Takahata refreshingly brings in old ones and finds unique ways to imbue them with so much meaning you could watch 5x and still never figure out everything.