AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Hoshi o Ou Kodomo (Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below)

miketyson · 2011-12-04, 16:23

Now that I've had time to collect my thoughts a bit, here's a meandering "review".

I'm putting it in a spoiler tag to avoid the "wall of text" effect but I assure you it's a spoiler-free review.

Spoiler for Review:

What I like about Shinkai is that he's more of an "artist" who happens to make animated films, and what I respect most about that is that it always feels like he doesn't release his films until they're done, and doesn't make any of the usual artistic compromises you'd expect to see.

This sets his work pretty far apart from most other animated feature films from Japan (even top-tier stuff like Ghibli, Satoshi Kon, etc.): the tendency is to start strong, then "run out of time" near the end, and I often imagine the producer saying "whelp, this movie's going to end in 10 minutes, folks, so let's wrap things up so we can get home to our families."

Hoshi wo ou Kodomo is a refreshing change of pace: yes, it's a long film (nearly 2 hours), and yes, the pacing is a bit slow, but it's paced *consistently* from start to finish. There's no "rushing to finish the story" and there's no "oh crap, we're out of time" ending, either: it starts where it makes sense to start, stops where it makes sense to stop, and gets there in a way it makes sense to get there.

This lends the film a rare and satisfying feeling of completeness that's all too rare. I have to wonder if this is actually contributing to the negative reactions a bit: when a film cuts off abruptly it feels bad intellectually but finishes while the audience is still worked-up; this movie finishes when it's really done, which does leave the audience with less of the typical rush.

In any case, that sense of completeness continued into the world Shinkai built up for the movie: the people who live in it are not homogenous, have their own opinions, their own histories, and their own problems. the setting has an incredible richness, and feels far vaster than the fraction we see over the course of the film; everywhere you look there are details and hints of the broader world -- writing on all the walls, ruins passed-by, villages not entered, landscapes not traveled-through, etc. -- and everything feels like it fits together, even though we know we won't see everything.

What of the characters? I think by design they're simple people with simple issues, and given that it's unsurprising that those simple issues have simple solutions. I liked this a lot, and found the characters believable: it's a high-fantasy film but it's characters are grounded in reality. If anything I think Shinkai lacked confidence on this decision, and would've been better off with even "flatter" backstories, but that's a minor quibble.

The one criticism I could get behind is that it's not that ambitious a film for Shinkai, other than the length and the production values. It's thematically in line with everything else he's done -- but perhaps a bit simpler, and seemingly aimed at a younger audience -- with the only new wrinkle being that the ending's a bit more upbeat than his norm. This didn't bother me much, but if you're expecting Shinkai to break new ground this film will probably leave you disappointed.

Which brings me to the film's "originality". My 2c: it is something of a Ghibli pastiche but I didn't mind that; at the end of the day I wanted to see a good film and I felt like I did. "Don't be original, just be good" is a solid motto in the creative arts, and good work is rare enough that just being very good is often quite original.

Beyond that I have some minor complaints: the music's good but overdone a lot of the time, some of the flashbacks/background stuff is just a bit too overwrought for my taste, and Shinkai leaves a lot of information in the "strongly implied but not explicit" category, which can make it seem like there're more plotholes or loose ends than I think there actually are (but you have to think a bit to close them). Hence the 9.8/10.

tl;dr: I liked this film. Like I said earlier, I'm not saying it's the best animated feature-length film ever, but honestly at this time I can't think of an animated feature-length film I've liked better. Maybe just the right film at the right time? I can see why some people are down on it, but I'd encourage you to watch it yourself and see what you think.

2011-12-04, 16:23	Link #140
miketyson Senior Member Join Date: May 2011	Now that I've had time to collect my thoughts a bit, here's a meandering "review". I'm putting it in a spoiler tag to avoid the "wall of text" effect but I assure you it's a spoiler-free review. Spoiler for Review: What I like about Shinkai is that he's more of an "artist" who happens to make animated films, and what I respect most about that is that it always feels like he doesn't release his films until they're done, and doesn't make any of the usual artistic compromises you'd expect to see. This sets his work pretty far apart from most other animated feature films from Japan (even top-tier stuff like Ghibli, Satoshi Kon, etc.): the tendency is to start strong, then "run out of time" near the end, and I often imagine the producer saying "whelp, this movie's going to end in 10 minutes, folks, so let's wrap things up so we can get home to our families." Hoshi wo ou Kodomo is a refreshing change of pace: yes, it's a long film (nearly 2 hours), and yes, the pacing is a bit slow, but it's paced consistently from start to finish. There's no "rushing to finish the story" and there's no "oh crap, we're out of time" ending, either: it starts where it makes sense to start, stops where it makes sense to stop, and gets there in a way it makes sense to get there. This lends the film a rare and satisfying feeling of completeness that's all too rare. I have to wonder if this is actually contributing to the negative reactions a bit: when a film cuts off abruptly it feels bad intellectually but finishes while the audience is still worked-up; this movie finishes when it's really done, which does leave the audience with less of the typical rush. In any case, that sense of completeness continued into the world Shinkai built up for the movie: the people who live in it are not homogenous, have their own opinions, their own histories, and their own problems. the setting has an incredible richness, and feels far vaster than the fraction we see over the course of the film; everywhere you look there are details and hints of the broader world -- writing on all the walls, ruins passed-by, villages not entered, landscapes not traveled-through, etc. -- and everything feels like it fits together, even though we know we won't see everything. What of the characters? I think by design they're simple people with simple issues, and given that it's unsurprising that those simple issues have simple solutions. I liked this a lot, and found the characters believable: it's a high-fantasy film but it's characters are grounded in reality. If anything I think Shinkai lacked confidence on this decision, and would've been better off with even "flatter" backstories, but that's a minor quibble. The one criticism I could get behind is that it's not that ambitious a film for Shinkai, other than the length and the production values. It's thematically in line with everything else he's done -- but perhaps a bit simpler, and seemingly aimed at a younger audience -- with the only new wrinkle being that the ending's a bit more upbeat than his norm. This didn't bother me much, but if you're expecting Shinkai to break new ground this film will probably leave you disappointed. Which brings me to the film's "originality". My 2c: it is something of a Ghibli pastiche but I didn't mind that; at the end of the day I wanted to see a good film and I felt like I did. "Don't be original, just be good" is a solid motto in the creative arts, and good work is rare enough that just being very good is often quite original. Beyond that I have some minor complaints: the music's good but overdone a lot of the time, some of the flashbacks/background stuff is just a bit too overwrought for my taste, and Shinkai leaves a lot of information in the "strongly implied but not explicit" category, which can make it seem like there're more plotholes or loose ends than I think there actually are (but you have to think a bit to close them). Hence the 9.8/10. tl;dr: I liked this film. Like I said earlier, I'm not saying it's the best animated feature-length film ever, but honestly at this time I can't think of an animated feature-length film I've liked better. Maybe just the right film at the right time? I can see why some people are down on it, but I'd encourage you to watch it yourself and see what you think.