The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

This is a movie about two thieves who target an old and wealthy castle for their next gig where they think a counterfeit money operation is happening.

The main character is named Lupin, a charismatic, clever master thief with almost as many tricks up his sleeves as batman. Lupin takes his partner to the Duchy or Cagliostro where the rumoured counterfeit bills are supposedly being made and meets Princess Clarisse. When Lupin first meets her, Clarisse is in something of a predicament and is trying to escape a group of men. Lupin is oddly drawn to her and bumps into her again later, discovering that she is being forced to marry a count. As it turns out, the count is also at the center of the whole counterfeit operation. In addition to the counterfeits, there is also rumoured to be a hidden treasure somewhere in the castle of Cagliostro, a treasure that may be tied to matching rings both the count and Clarissa wear, and the count wants dearly to find it. Lupin gets into more and more trouble with the count as he tries both liberate the princess and wrest the mysterious treasure from his power, after he finds it of course. In addition to all this, there is a police officer on Lupin's tail, hoping to catch him and throw him into jail for all the past offenses he's committed.

I first heard of this movie a while back, but delayed watching it. It was directed by Hayao Miyazaki before Studio Ghibli came together, so I knew there was a good chance the story would be good, but the animation style really isn't my favourite, and the first five minutes didn't really grab me. Fortunately, the story is  done well enough that I was able to look past the animation style and appreciate the story. Once the plot gets going it really draws you in. It's intricate, but fun. There's mystery, suspense, action, and just a hint of romance. A hidden gem, don't pay much attention to the packaging, this one is worthy of a watch. The dubbed version is currently on Youtube.

Castle in the Sky (1986)

Pazu is an orphan who works for the owner of a mine and one night after everyone has left he sees something falling from the sky. He runs up to a platform and sees that it's a young girl floating down from the heavens. Just as he tentatively reaches out to catch her, almost as if she weren't real, she stops floating and falls heavily into his arms, almost knocking him off the platform himself. The girl's name is Sheeta and she is on the run from the leader of an organization who wants to get his hands on a crystal Sheeta got from her grandmother and keeps on a necklace. Pazu decides that he'll help Sheeta escape both the man and an unruly gang of pirates who are also after the crystal. This back and forth chase leads everyone to a mythical castle in the sky. Pazu's father got lost in a storm surrounding the island and Pazu has been preparing to go find the floating castle that his father was searching for. The crystal has great power that can be deadly, and has a connection with this mystical castle in the sky. Will the bad guys get their hands on this potentially deadly power? And if they do, is there anything Pazu and Sheeta can do to prevent a most certain disaster?!

This is a wonderful film. There is action, adventure, romance, and suspense. It's both whimsical and grounded at the same time. The movie is about a dream of a floating castle, but that fantasy and whimsy is brought down to earth by greed and power. The characters are wonderful and I enjoyed the dynamic between Sheeta and Pazu. A wonderful film for all ages.

      

Whisper of the Heart (1995)

This movie reminded me slightly of Kiki's Delivery Service. Kiki's Delivery Service was made before it though, and I'd have to say that it was a better story of self discovery. But as Whisper of the Heart is also from Studio Ghibli, the fact that it pales in comparison to Kiki in no way makes it a bad film.

Whisper of the Heart is the story of a girl who is at odds with herself. She has no direction and doesn't know what she will do in the future. She meets a boy who loves music and is inspired by his passion, so decides to write a novel. There isn't a lot of action in the movie, but watching Shizuku struggle with her frustration at discovering what she enjoys and what she should do with her life, and then the passion and effort she puts into attempting to fulfill that endears her to the audience. She struggles with some conventions that the young people of today are encouraged to participate in. I won't say exactly what so as not to spoil anything, but suffice it to say that she resisted this convention because didn't see the use of participating and later returned to it when she saw the use. 

At the end of the movie, Shizuku finds her beginning, and I have to say that the story she is writing bears more than a resemblance to The Cat Returns, another Ghibli film created after this one.

Overall a sweet film, but Kiki does a better job of it on the whole.

My Neighbor Totoro

The first maybe 15/ 20 minutes of this movie are really annoying and just seem like these two girls are running around trying to be cute and carefree. Those few minutes made me acutely aware that I was an adult watching a child's movie, in the most unpleasant way possible. Thankfully it improves. In fact, if you play the movie again right after you've seen it once, you'll most likely still have the happy/ magical feeling and will still feel a connection to the characters, so can pass of the annoying as...... endearing.

The girls take us on a journey, seeing the world through their eyes. The story begins when the girls and their father move to a new house in the country. When they get there they start bumping into spirits, and continue to do so throughout the movie. The story itself is a very plain story about two girls living their regular lives, waiting for their mother to come home from the hospital, but this magical world that only the girls can interact with and see takes the story to a whole other level. The magical beings the girls interact with can easily be rationalized as the imaginations of these two girls as they make more of their surroundings than is actually there (for example the soot gremlins could be just dust balls), but even if that is the case, it makes the story that much more fantastic. A child, who is already prone to accepting the fact that magic can exist, will accept this story as it is presented, two girls who meet forest spirits. an adult however, much more skeptical than a child, may not do so and will look for instances to rationalize away the magic (soot gremlins = dust balls), and to that adult this story has the wonderful lesson of seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. That's also why it helps to watch the movie twice as an adult to enjoy it, you get over your inhibitions and desire to make it fit into your own life after seeing it the first time, for those who don't need the first time I salute you. It's a wonderful movie, and as it's a Myazaki film, definitely worth the watch.

Kiki’s Delivery Service

This movie is in my list of most watched movies. It's about a witch who (after going to live on her own for a year) loses her ability to fly and has to struggle with herself to find who she is to be able to fly again. Every witch has a special power that she does best, like her own personality manifested. When Kiki loses her power, its like the struggle a lot of young girls (and boys) go through to find out why they're here and who they are.

I first saw this movie when I was in grade 7, and her not knowing what her power was at first, finding it, loosing it and then how she gained it back by realizing what was truly important really touched a chord in me. I thought to myself 'hey! I go through that all the time!' and watching her rise out of her inability always made me feel better about myself when I was feeling a bit sad. Showing a light at the end of the tunnel if you will.

I recommend this movie to all young girls as its a truly touching movie of finding your own way in the world, your purpose, which is to be the best you you can be.