Leofwine_draca WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE is a sweet and touching family drama from those gifted animators at Studio Ghibli. The story involves a lonely young girl who goes to live with her aunt and becomes entranced by an abandoned old mansion by a lake. She soon befriends a young blonde-haired girl living there and the two develop a friendship, but mystery remains regarding her new friend's identity. As with many recent Ghibli films, this one's set in a recognisable real world and is less fantasy-oriented than their older classics. It's sublimely made, as always, and features a plot which layers on the emotion and feelings until the final, moving twist.

bob the moo The opening sections of Omoide no Mânî get the film off to a very good start. Primarily this is off the back of how interesting Anna is as a character; she is not amazingly new in her teenage struggles perhaps, but they seem genuine, informed, and they show on her surface in a way that speaks to a lot more happening that is buried. With Anna as the base, the slow pace of the film did not bother me too much because I was interested enough in her to trust the film as it took us to a new community, set-up some interactions and the mystery of the mansion across the swamp.This doesn't last unfortunately, and the film doesn't built on that character so much as sit on the potential. There is a certain engagement in the way the mystery plays out and what Marine leads the film to. However as it goes it asks a lot but doesn't deliver too much; again one goes with this on the trust that it will be something the character deserves. I found it far too neat and tidy when we got there though, and the aspects that Anna indicated early on are sort of simplified more than I liked. It still offers something as it goes, but the destination didn't satisfy.Along the way it is as visually stunning as you expect, and it is as professionally constructed as the norm – but when it moved from an engaging reality into the more fantasy realm I expected it to soar with this as its base, however the pat nature of the conclusion rather grounds it instead.

phoenix 2 Obviously I'm one of the few who weren't impressed by this movie. It wasn't that it lacked the fantasy, magical effect; on the contrary, it was quite enjoyable, with the beautiful landscapes and the detailed scenes. However, the story kind of dragged on. I guess it's is mainly me that was bothered by that and in general, this movie is quite good. The story is interesting, though it gets confusing with the way the relationship between the two girls is developed and the fact that Anna, although agreeing that there is something "fishy" about Marnie, on the very next scene she continues on like nothing has happened. Towards the end, things get way too obvious, but at least the ending was good and satisfying, as it didn't left any case unsolved and every story got a happy closure. So, 4 out of 10.

Jackson Booth-Millard I found out about this Japanese cartoon movie, from Studio Ghibli, mainly because of its inclusion in the Oscar nominations, I was always going to watch this, both to see if I agree with this accolade, and as a fan of many films from the studio. Basically shy 12-year-old Anna Sasaki (Hailee Steinfeld) lives with her foster parents, Yoriko (Geena Davis) and her husband, in Sapporo, she is distant and unhappy, for health reasons she is sent to spend the summer with Yoriko's relatives, Setsu (Grey Griffin) and Kiyomasa Oiwa (John C. Reilly), in a rural seaside town. While there, Anna is fascinated by an abandoned mansion, dilapidated and overgrown, across the marsh, she wonders why it seems familiar to her, it has been empty for a long time, but Anna has visions of the house looking well and people residing in it. One night, following an argument, Anna runs away, she finds a boat and rows across to the mansion, there she is greeted by beautiful, good-natured blonde girl Marnie (Kiernan Shipka), Anna tells her about her dreams, but Marnie assures her she is not dreaming now, they agree to keep meeting in secret, but the next day, when Anna plans to see Marnie, the mansion has returned to its abandoned and dilapidated state. A week later, while sketching, Anna meets older woman Hisako (Vanessa Williams) who paints pictures of the mansion and marsh, she comments that Anna's sketches look like a girl she used to know when she was young, and she used to live in the mansion, which is being renovated for someone moving in. Anna returns to the mansion, she meets a girl named Sayaka (Ava Acres), she discovers Marnie's diary in a drawer, it includes text about a party Anna may have been part of, several pages of the diary are missing. The next day, Marnie reappears and talks to Anna about her parents always travelling abroad, her nanny and two maids and their physical and psychological abuse, Anna wants to help her confront her fear of the silo, where she used to be threatened of being locked in, Anna falls asleep, and is upset to find Marnie has abandoned her in the silo. Meanwhile, Sayaka and her brother finds the missing diary pages, including mention of the silo, they find Anna there in a feverish state, during which she dreams of confronting Marnie, who apologises for leaving her, and telling her she can no longer see her, Marnie begs Anna for forgiveness, Anna vows to remember Marnie as she is swept away by the tide. Anna recovers from her fever, Sayaka shows her the missing pages and a painting Hisako gave to Marnie, Hisako tells them Marnie's story. Marnie married Kazuhiko, who died from an illness, they had a daughter named Emily, Marnie was committed to a psychiatric hospital and Emily was sent to boarding school, when Marnie was released Emily was upset for her abandoning her, she ran away and had a daughter of her own, she and her husband were killed in a car accident, Marnie raised her granddaughter until her death, the girl was put in foster care. It is the end of summer, Yoriko is taking Anna home, she gives Anna a photograph of the mansion that belonged to her grandmother, she realises she is the daughter of Emily and Marnie's granddaughter, this revelation brings Anna closure of her identity, she bids her friends of the town goodbye, and sees the mansion and Marnie one last time as she is taken back home. Also starring Catherine O'Hara as the Elderly Lady, Ellen Burstyn as Nanny and Kathy Bates as Mrs. Kadoya. The cast dubbing the voices into English are all chosen well, it is a fairly simple story of a pubescent tomboy girl unknowingly going back in time to meet the younger version of her relative, it is perhaps more realistic than previous films from the studio, no magical and fantasy elements as such, it hasn't got quite the same charm as these other films, but the animation is fantastic, overall its not a bad animated drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Worth watching!