![]() And they break the law multiple times, including in violent ways. They’re dealing with family death and probably abandonment. While Taki and Mitsuha were dealing with their own issues (and the latter’s conflict between familial expectations and her teenage desires was a significant part of Your Name), it’s on a whole new level with Hodaka and Hina. He attacks this problem with the heart of the story-his characters. The challenge is, how can he combine his favorite themes with this new, consumer friendly style, creating something that feels right on both a heart and head level? Starting with Your Name, his style has drastically evolved, and Weathering with You proves it by featuring the same new qualities in abundance: musical montages (often set to RADWIMPS’ music, which once again delivers), a balance between scenes that are mystical and serious and those that are humorous and childish, and a sense of optimism. ![]() For his earlier movies, these themes naturally created a sense of pessimism, once which he’s trended away from with his more recent films, which in itself presents a challenge. And many of the themes to which he’s married are again present here: the clash between new and old, the powerful force that is distance, and the barrier of time. There’s something artificially cold and mechanical about many of his films, points as which the screenplays seems to move in a direction willed by a director who wants to emphasize a theme, but can’t carry them there naturally. The most wondrous parts of the film are those spent in the sky.īut how does Weathering with You do down below, focusing on its characters in the streets of Tokyo? If there’s one criticism I’ve had with Shinkai’s films over the years, it’s his inability to craft dramas that carry authenticity into their final acts. ![]() The film demonstrates that he remains the master of animation, and also that he’s constantly innovating: While aerial shots downward are nothing new for Shinkai (think Garden of Words), he moves the “camera” even higher in Weathering with You, at the top of the Tokyo skyline and then even higher into the clouds over which Hina has authority. Shinkai is perhaps best in the west known for his animation of food, clouds, and rain, and a film about a weather maiden who can bring sunshine and clear the skies is a perfect the showcase for the latter two (though he still finds opportunities to animate the first as well). The prime hallmarks of the director’s films-unrelenting love set against epic obstacles and his unmatched skills as an animator-are as present as ever (as is a bit of self-referential fanservice that, if you’re anything like the audience I watched with, will make you gasp). theaters, and fans of its predecessor will enjoy this one as well. Makoto Shinkai’s follow up to his smash hit, Your Name, has made its way to U.S. But the pair are brought together by an extraordinary phenomenon, a rain imbued with magical, ancient elements over which Hina seems to have sway, a possession for the two in a world where they have little else and no control-though the question arises, are the powers at work here even more oppressive than the human ones that have shaped their traumatic lives? ![]() She’s desperate to make money to support her and her younger brother, who live by themselves. He’s run away from his rural home to Tokyo, where he starts a job researching paranormal events for Keisuke, an irresponsible freelancer. ![]()
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