Fantasmagoric, and a beautiful tribute to childhood, A film that does not deviate from the rule since it offers to discover a fantastic world with adorable forest creatures. Moreover, it is not for nothing that the character of Totoro later became the mascot of the Studio.
Rejected for many years (Miyazaki having proposed the project for the
first time in the early 80’s), My neighbor Totoro, second feature film of the
studio Ghibli, Finally, it was given the green light in 1987, provided that it
did not exceed 60 minutes and that it was associated with another feature film
from a novel by the publisher Shinchosa. This is how the young studio ends up
having to manage grave of the fireflies which will be realized by Isao Takahata
and My neighbor Totoro, in a record time of a small year. Miyazaki and Takahata
rely on the same designers and other technicians to whom they have full
confidence, they divide the studio to work simultaneously on the two projects.
Result: grave of the fireflies remains to this day the ultimate masterpiece of
Takahata as for Totoro, it is so successful when it was released in Japan in
1988 that its main creature becomes the mascot of the studio. Back home, the
film will be released almost ten years later.
But the wait was well worth it because the wonder felt during the
discovery of the work is almost as intense as that experienced by Mei and
Satsuki, the two girls of the film who arrive in the country with their father.
In this rural setting where their curiosity is more than satisfied, they meet
strange and fascinating creatures, the totoros. The immersion in this green
setting is gradually felt thanks to the care given to the environments, real
characters of the film. The bright greens, the clarity of the forest, the
natural sound effects, etc. all in the slightest detail has been thought to
reinforce the realism of the elements staged. The intervention of the dream and
the imaginary is then done very smoothly, Miyazaki leaving judiciously hover
doubt as to the real existence of the totoros, these creatures that are
revealed exclusively in the eyes of the children. Almost the entire film is
also perceived by the prism of childhood, Miyazaki putting organisms as
tangible as tadpoles quivering in a pool of water or seeds piercing the ground
on the same footing as worrying blacks fleeing the light (these soot ghosts
that will be found in Spirited away), roundish totoros or an amazing cat-bus,
all elements that benefit from the exhilarating look of childhood. O joy, to
see My neighbor Totoro, it is undeniably to find that look.
My neighbour Totoro is thus essentially an hymn to nature, to childhood
and to its candor which, beyond the wonder, however, contains some more obscure
elements like the notion of death that is not avoided, via the character of the
mother suffering from a serious illness who lives away from her family
(Miyazaki’s mother having been carried away by tuberculosis). An
autobiographical element that is absolutely not treated in a teary way, but
which attests to the personal aspect of a work that remains above all
incredibly warm since constantly treated with a sweetness and a delicacy that
has not, To date, found that little equivalent.
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