2016 is an unpredictable year. Perhaps not as packed with anticipated releases as 2015, but there are excitements to be have. DC and Marvel is going head to head - a minor battle between Doctor Strange and the Suicide Squad and the final battle betw...
Despite being originally released in 1991, Only Yesterday was only released in the USA in 2016. This is unusual considering the fact that it didn't take that long for Disney to purchase rights to other Ghibli films like Kiki's Delivery Service or Spirited Away.
I bought this movie one or two years ago as a part of the Ghibli package. So my country definitely has no problem with releasing this film. So why was Disney so reluctant?
Having watched the movie, I could definitely see why. This movie is an extremely mature film that deals very realistically with a girl's coming of age. Ghibli has never been squeaky clean in its handling of such concepts – so this movie speaks extensively and directly about ideas of young love and puberty. When I was watching a section of this movie that deals directly with how children react to a girl having her first period, I could almost see the Disney executives shaking their heads in unison. The straightforwardness of this movie is not something that mainstream American media might approve, but that doesn't mean it's not good. As a matter of fact, I think this movie is a little masterpiece of its own.
As I said, the movie is about the coming of age of a girl, but it's not just about that. The movie covers ideas of existentialism and nostalgia and memory. In order to achieve that effect, the film discards linear storytelling. It presents the main character first as a grown woman who decides to take a trip to the rural region of Japan. She wishes to take a break from the buzzes and crazes of the city. Throughout her journey and her stay at the countryside, she has a recollection of her growing up as a young girl. She recalls the innocence and the purity of childhood as well as the sense of discontent and confusion associated with growing up.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
As with most, if not all of Ghibli's films, the visuals are absolutely gorgeous. The one thing that Ghibli will always beat Disney with is its attention to little details. Imagine a mother cooking in her kitchen: How would Disney animate it? How would Ghibli animate it? If it's a mundane thing, Disney makes it mundane. The commercialized nature of Disney will dictate so. In a Ghibli film, the kitchen is like a character on its own. The animators will put efforts in animating even the edges of the spiraling smoke; they will bestow incredible details upon every last bubble peeking out under the bobbing lid of the boiling pot.
This movie has a clear visual message. When its dealing with present days, the details are clear and full but not in any way special. When it's dealing with the past, only a few specific elements in the frame are drawn in details. When the film shifts into flashback, the edges of the screen whiten and disappear. The trivial stuff like the floors and the table and the walls are not as important as the characters. And indeed those characters are what the woman would remember most clearly. Anything with emotional resonance shines in bright colors contrasting with the paler background. It mimics the reality of memory. We only recall what is so important to us. The result of this is the sense of nostalgia that pervades these moments of flashbacks. Even when the story itself is so specific, the viewers can relate to the way the main character recalls these memories. We all remember only the things that are important to us.
