Miyazaki Month continues with a review of one of Miyazaki’s
most under appreciated films called Laputa:
Castle in the Sky.
Background
Even though Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is considered
a Studio Ghibli film it was not created under the Studio Ghibli title. The
studio was created shortly after the release of Nausicaa and the first film
produced by Studio Ghibli was Miyazaki’s Laputa:
Castle in the Sky. The film contains references to popular works such as Gulliver’s Travels and Treasure Island. Since technically being
the first Ghibli film I felt it fitting that I review this in celebration of
the Month of Miyazaki.
A young boy stumbles into a mysterious
girl who floats down from the sky. The girl, Sheeta, was chased by pirates,
army and government secret agents. In saving her life, they begin a high flying
adventure that goes through all sorts of flying machines, eventually searching
for Sheeta's identity in a floating castle of a lost civilization. Written by Tzung-I
Lin
Review
This film has a very
different tone than Totoro had. This
film is more in the vein of Nausicaa and by that I mean that this film breathes
adventure. It is meant to be a fun and
lighthearted adventure inspired by the great adventures of classic literature. It doesn’t really explore any deep themes or
meaning as Totoro did, but it does bring the sense of beauty and wonder that
Nausicaa did. Miyazaki knows how to handle animation and this film carries on
the tradition of Ghibli films and their animation. This film came out over 20 years ago and it
still looks gorgeous. I don’t feel like
it is dated and to me this style of hand drawn animation that is shown in these
films look so much better than even the best looking animated films using
CGI.
The characters do not
take a back seat to the animation. Both
the boy and the girl in this film play off of each other very well and have
chemistry that is difficult to capture in animation. In my opinion Disney always does a great job
with their English dubs. James Van Der Beek and Anna Paquin are the two leads
and even though they sound older than their characters they still bring a great
performance to this film. This film is
more about the adventure and less about a lesson more so than any of the other
Ghibli films, which in this case is a good thing.
This is just another
example of what an animated film can be in the very capable hands of Hayao
Miyazaki. The film is a fun adventure
that not only captures the sense of thrill but also a sense of heart that a
great adventure should have. I highly recommend that if you have not already
seen it that you go out and check it out especially since it has just been
released on blu ray (here on Amazon). It
is a beautiful film that should not be missed.
Score
4 ½ out of 5
Look out for next time as I continue with the Month of Miyazaki by reviewing Howl’s Moving Castle
No comments:
Post a Comment