The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013, Studio Ghibli, 137m) on 07/13/2017.
Miyatsuko is an old man who makes a living as a bamboo cutter. One day he comes across a bamboo shoot that unravels itself to reveal a miniature child. He takes her home to his wife and the two raise the child as their own but notice that her growing rate is much faster than any other child. Miyatsuko and his wife consider the child a blessing from the Heavens and try to raise her to become a respectable princess.
There's a couple of things I should point out about The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. The movie is based on a popular, traditional Japanese folk tale. Also, despite it being a Ghibli production, it is actually directed by Takahata Isao.
Setting this feature apart from other Ghibli movies is its visual style. Backgrounds are lightly hand-drawn and hand-painted in pencil and watercolor respectively to give the audience the impression of watching a children's picture book come to life. The characters and everything that moves is drawn in organic pencil lines and rendered digitally in gentle colors that add even more to the movie's picture book-like aesthetic. And this is all woven together with a narrative that is sure to pull at your heart strings.
There's a couple of things I should point out about The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. The movie is based on a popular, traditional Japanese folk tale. Also, despite it being a Ghibli production, it is actually directed by Takahata Isao.
Setting this feature apart from other Ghibli movies is its visual style. Backgrounds are lightly hand-drawn and hand-painted in pencil and watercolor respectively to give the audience the impression of watching a children's picture book come to life. The characters and everything that moves is drawn in organic pencil lines and rendered digitally in gentle colors that add even more to the movie's picture book-like aesthetic. And this is all woven together with a narrative that is sure to pull at your heart strings.
8/10 - This was certainly a gem of a movie for me. I felt all sorts of emotions watching the characters go through the many ordeals that came with being part of Kaguya's life. But I also very much enjoyed watching the really interesting art style of the movie in motion. I've always imagined what animating traditional media would be like. But I still wonder if it was an easier task or more difficult than doing regular animation. *SPOILER* I was left with a bitter taste at the end. The movie certainly doesn't leave off on a joyous note, and I felt like it was very unfair to Kaguya's parents. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing as I feel it proves the moral points it's trying to make, and that is that life's too short not to enjoy it for what it is and the things and people we already have in our lives.
