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My Neighbor Totoro and Ebert
peter_gzowski writes "Well known film critic and closet otaku, Roger Ebert, has a bi-weekly segment on his website where he reminisces about the greatest films of all time (in his opinion, anyway). The most recent installment covers My Neighbor Totoro. This is the second anime to make the list, joining Grave of the Fireflies. For those unfamiliar, Totoro is a film by anime master Hayao Miyazaki, the man behind Princess Mononoke, amoung many other great films (Castle of Cagliostro being my favorite)."
Always pleased to see anime get more mainsream cred. And Miyazaki always deserves it.
I must admit, I've never gotten into anime. Would those who have recommend this as a good place to start?
b&
All but God can prove this sentence true.
Anyone can, if they want, find something bad about something you like. I like anime because I think it is a refreshing change from the dreck that spills from American studios. Yes, some anime is boring, and badly translated, and badly drawn, and some people know WAY too much about it, but everything is the same way.
How many people lined up in the cold to buy tickets for Lord of the Rings? Or Harry Potter? Or to go to a Baptist revival? Or a book signing? Or a software convention? Or.... You get the idea.
For most people, television and movies are passive entertainment. For the obsessed, however, it becomes active. Instead of just seeing something, the begin to live it. Anime is not alone in this. Witness the Trekkie phenomena, or the following some soap operas have. For otakus (a term which, in Japan, carries a strong negative connotation) of any sort, the world on the screen is real.
The point is that nearly everyone has something they obsess over, whether they do it quietly or not. It's not fair to condemn someone just because they happen to like something that you don't.
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From the website of Rev. Jim Huber, Heretic
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Vpered na Mars!
Okay, let's take these criticisms one at a time. Hopefully, I can get you to see my point of view- not change yours. You are welcome to your opinion; just hear mine out.
n d that they can't see the social criticism in Trek. (Not that Trek is alone in that.)
1) Bad stories
Methinks you have been watching too much Toonami. Yes, you watch a few eps of what CN puts on and you'll think "gawd what garbage!" But switch over to Friends and seriously compare the plot depth. Same for Buffy; now I'm serious here!! Think about it- there are, according to dramatists, less than a dozen basic plot lines (they'll give you different answers according to their view, but noone I know goes over about 10). And on top of that, you're viewing this across a cultural chasm (little bit deeper & wider than a generation gap). Sure, you might have to watch the same thing once or twice, but once you've build some sort of mental bridge you'll see that maybe, just maybe, some of this is deeper than American film. (Princess Mononoke comes to mind; similar enough to Aesop's tales you might find it a jumpable region, yet also a good film on just its' own merits.)
2) Bad animation, jerkiness with poor color composition
Hmm... two words. Abstract Art. Yes, you might not think it's 'real art' (I sure don't) but apparently it is to some people. After all, culture truly is a fluid thing and perhaps someday realism may be considered childish art. (But I truly doubt it.)
3) Bad translations [there]of
Hmmm. Define 'bad'. Are these translations literal? Most certainly not; but I'd like to see a literal translation preserve the humor of a pun. (Can't be done, except in exceptional cases). Also refer back to point one- that cultural chasm might keep you from understanding a word-for-word translation. True-to-intent translations? Perhaps; I'm not fluent in any language but English, so I've no real grounds to say. All I can say is: if it really is a bad translation, keep up the good work-- I enjoy what anime I've seen.
4) Bad dialogue
5) A bunch of people OBSESSED with this shit to a sickening point.
I'm going to deal both of these one swift blow. Ever been to a Star Trek convention?? I haven't, really, but I did attend Dragon*Con in Atlanta-- general sci-fi but still the point holds. I may enjoy Trek as much as the next geek, but I don't go out and buy the uniform and the badge and tricorder and makeup kits and wear all of it to every convention held. Some people do. Obsession is (IMHO- this is not a statement of fact) hardwired into today's American (if not general Western) culture because of the popularism ('be-like-us' Borg attitude). And after looking hard at trekkies talk to a non-trekkie- they sure as shooting won't 'get it' and the most cultured of them (nye kultoorni! Literal Translation: uncultured! or perhaps, with context: BARBARIANS!) will tell you that the dialog is soooooo hakneyed. Perhaps it is, but that does nothing to diminish the good parts. But these poor souls are so caught up in either critical examination of the medium or interest in what's-the-latest-brand-worn-by-the-latest-boy-ba
And so in conclusion: hopefully I have answered your question. If you haven't read between the lines and gotten the point, I'll spell it out. We like anime because it is a different take on drama- one not supported by live action nor explored by western animators. If you do not understand this, you are free to find your entertainment elsewhere.
Do you like Japanese imports?
I often agree with him, and even when I disagree I can usually respect his opinions. Being a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fan I bought his "I hated, hated, HATED this movie".
:)
Most of it was laugh out loud stuff, but really didn't agree with his slagging of
a) Clive Barker's Hellraiser. Ebert listed lots of "plotholes" that were actually misunderstandings of the movie from his side. He also seemed very upset with the S/M and anti-religious themes and mocked those who call the film a classic. Well, it IS a classic damnit!
b) Priest. Again he seemed very prudish. His main objection is that joining the priesthood and taking a vow of celibacy is a voluntary choice, so claiming that you are opressed later for that or because you are gay is just PC whining. Maybe - but giving such a well written, acted and well shot film such a low score just because of that? One suspects he is subconsciously offended by the topic of the movie and the way it portrayed the Catholic church.
On the other hand, I really liked how he butchered these two films, so I guess it evens out:
a) Armageddon. "The movie is an assault on the eyes, the ears, the brain, common sense, and the human desire to be entertained. No matter what they're charging to get in, it's worth more to get out."
b) Starship Troopers. "The action sequences are heavily laden with special effects, but curiously joyless. We get the idea right away: Bugs will jump up, troopers will spray counless rounds at them, the Bugs will impale troopers with their spiny giant legs, and finally dissolve in a spray of goo. Later there are refinements, like fire-breathing beetles, flying insects, and giant Bugs that erupt from the earth. All very elaborate, but not interesting in the way, say, that the villains in the Alien pictures were. Even their planet is boring; Bugs live on ugly rock worlds with no other species, raising the question of what they eat."
And he also made me aware of some weak spots in films I really liked and made me re-evaluate them, for instance Blue Velvet, Doom Generation, Dead Poets Society, Caligula.
Well, getting back to Totoro I must say it sounds interesting. I wish I had read this review before Christmas, it would have been a good present for my brother's kids, and then I would have had an excuse to see it too.
:)
Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
"Kiki's Delivery Service" was the target of the CWA (Concerned Women for America). You can read their "press release" here.(1)
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(1): http://www.imasy.or.jp/~fukumoto/n/nshow.cgi?2069
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Totoro is an unqualified masterpiece in my semi-informed opinion (I'm a CG animator). Even beyond the constraints of the imaginary cat-owl-bear genre. :) I've inflicted it on any number of friends and acquaintances, always with happy results.
At SIGGRAPH two years ago I was fortunate enough to see a presentation by a Ghibli AD in which he talked the audience through a bunch of scenes from this movie. "Here," he would say (through his translator), about a scene where the younger daughter picks flowers in the garden and stands on tiptoe to put them on the edge of her father's desk while he is working, "everything in the scene is intended to emphasize the innocence of Mai and the fatherliness of her father." Or waiting at a bus stop: "We kept the camera here for two more seconds to give the proper sense of spacial composition in time." (I've heard people call it slow, but I blame MTV fast-cut editing for salting the earth for more subtle techniques.) Amazing work.
Miyazaki himself is a gruff, chain-smoking perfectionist by all reports, but he writes some beautiful stuff, the acting is subtle, some of the backgrounds look like Maxfield Parish, in Totoro for once the dubbing is excellent, and the whole is greater than any description of the elements can convey.
YMMV, but I hope not.