[Press release from the Cleveland Cinematheque.]
Last fall the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque showed eight animated features directed by Japan’s Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki is the co-founder and foremost ambassador of Studio Ghibli, a revered Japanese animation (or “anime”) company founded in 1985.
However,
Studio Ghibli also produces films not made by Miyazaki, and in the
upcoming series “More than Miyazaki: Studio Ghibli’s Other Anime
Masters” (January 26 – February 24), the Cinematheque will show five such works over five successive Saturday and Sunday nights.
Three of the five features to be screened are directed by the studio’s
other co-founder, Isao Takahata, and two are by other talents. And
although Miyazaki’s work is echoed in a few of the movies (e.g., the
young heroine of Whisper of the Heart, which Miyazaki co-wrote, and the ecology theme of Pom Poko),
these five films are generally more rooted in the real world than in
Miyazaki’s fantasy realms. They also boast some striking stylistic
departures. All will be shown in new, English-subtitled 35mm prints.
All five films will show in the Aitken Auditorium of the Cleveland Institute of Art, 11141 East Boulevard in University Circle.
Admission to each film is $9; Cinematheque members and CIA students
& staff $7; age 25 & under $6. Free parking for filmgoers in
available in the adjacent CIA lot, located north of the building off of
East Boulevard. For further information, call John Ewing or Tim Harry at
(216) 421-7450.
More than Miyazaki: Studio Ghibli’s Other Anime Masters
January 26 – February 24, 2013
Saturday, January 26, at 9:20 pm &
Sunday, January 27, at 6:30 pm
ONLY YESTERDAY
OMOHIDE PORO PORO
Japan, 1991, Isao Takahata
In
this subtle and lyrical animated feature by the co-founder (with Hayao
Miyazaki) of Studio Ghibli, Taeko, a 27-year-old Tokyo office worker
poised for a change in her life, takes a trip to her sister’s farm. As
she travels and experiences the unfamiliar countryside, Taeko reminisces
about the joys and sorrows of her childhood, and wonders: has she been
true to the dreams of her youth? Subtitles. 35mm. 119 min. www.gkids.tv/ghibli/
Saturday, February 2, at 9:40 pm &
Sunday, February 3, at 6:30 pm
POM POKO
HEISEI TANUKI GASSEN PONPOKO
Japan, 1994, Isao Takahata
This animated feature by Studio Ghibli’s co-founder focuses on a group of magical tanuki,
mischievous raccoon-like animals from Japanese folklore that are
capable of changing their shapes. When a new development threatens their
forest, the tanuki transform into humans and start playing
tricks on the workers—in order to make them think the construction site
is haunted! Subtitles. 35mm. 119 min. www.gkids.tv/ghibli/
Saturday, February 9, at 9:15 pm &
Sunday, February 10, at 6:30 pm
WHISPER OF THE HEART
MIMI WO SUMASEBA
Japan, 1995, Yoshifumi KondĂ´
Co-written
by Hayao Miyazaki (who also directed some of the fantasy scenes), the
only feature by a promising Studio Ghibli animator who died at age 47
tells of a well-read teenage girl who discovers that all the books she
checks out from the library have previously been borrowed by another
individual. She sets out to find this person, thus setting off on a
singular journey that will determine her future life and career. “An
ineffably lovely animated ode to young love, creativity and the
struggles of self-determination.” –Time Out Film Guide. Subtitles. 35mm. 111 min. www.gkids.tv/ghibli/
Saturday, February 16, at 9:10 pm &
Sunday, February 17, at 6:30 pm
MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS
HÔHOKEKYO TONARI NO YAMADA-KUN
Japan, 1999, Isao Takahata
In
this charming animated feature, Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata
breaks from his company’s tradition of mythic, larger-than-life stories
to recount the everyday activities of an ordinary Japanese
family—husband, wife, son, daughter, mother-in-law, and dog. He also
departs from the studio’s detailed, saturated cel animation for a
faster, more fluid, minimalist style inspired by comic strip sketches
and pastel-colored watercolors. (It was the first Studio Ghibli feature
created entirely on computers.) “If there’s an American analogy [to this
film], it’s The Simpsons.” –Time Out Film Guide. Cleveland theatrical premiere. 35mm. Subtitles. 104 min. www.gkids.tv/ghibli/
Saturday, February 23, at 9:05 pm &
Sunday, February 24, at 3:00 pm
THE CAT RETURNS
NEKO NO ONGAESHI
Japan/USA, 2002, Hiroyuki Morita
In this spin-off from Whisper of the Heart
(see 2/9-10), a young schoolgirl who rescues a cat in danger soon finds
herself transported to a fantastic feline world, where the grateful
King of Cats wants her to marry the animal she saved, his son.
“Good-hearted, energetic, and full of Ghibli's characteristically
beautiful hand-rendered animation.” –The Onion A.V. Club. Cleveland theatrical premiere. Subtitles. 35mm. 75 min. www.gkids.tv/ghibli/
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