Sad sayonara
When Marnie Was There | Studio Ghibli bids farewell with Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s gentle, poignant animation.
It has been two years since Hayao Miyazaki signalled the end of Studio Ghibli, retiring after The Wind Rises. Yet it would not be the studio’s swansong.
That job now falls to Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Miyazaki’s relatively young (42) protégé with only one directorial credit (2010’s Arrietty) to his name. Can his new film, When Marnie Was There, end the studio on a high?
“Yes, I’m aware of the pressure!” Yonebayashi laughs. “Though what is central to Ghibli is to make animation for children. That’s what Miyazaki has been saying for a long, long time. So I tried to make this film with that in mind, to be fit for Studio Ghibli’s last film.”
As it happens, When Marnie Was There could not be a more fitting end for Studio Ghibli, which goes out not with a bang, but with a gentle, reflective story on loneliness, friendship and family. Based on the novel of the same name by the English author Joan G. Robinson, it follows Anna (Sara Takatsuki), an emotionally distant young girl who is sent to live with relatives in the countryside. Once there, she struggles to make friends, but becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and the girl, Marnie (Kasumi Arimura), who lives there. Their relationship blooms into something sweet, maybe even romantic, but Marnie possesses a sad, poignant secret.
“It’s a really moving story,” says Yonebayashi, “There are many children who feel lonely and I’d like this film to encourage them to take one big step forward. At the same time, it’s not just angst. I wanted to portray her growing up, realising that the people around her love her. And it’s through Marnie that she realises she is fortunate – that she is happy.”
Of course, one of the big questions hanging over When Marnie Was There is whether it really will be Studio Ghibli’s final film. Co-founder Toshio Suzuki has since clarified that the company is taking a “pause” to consider future plans. Yonebayashi is “not sure” what these future plans will be, but is certain that Studio Ghibli’s legacy is already clear to see in films like Inside Out.
“We have been a huge influence for creators not just in Japan, but around the world,” he says. “The films of Disney and Pixar, for example, are almost Miyazaki-esque. Traditionally, Disney/Pixar didn’t put protagonists as human beings, but Ghibli was different. For the last 15 years we depicted struggles and loneliness and anguish, we showed the releasing of souls, and that influenced Western cinema a lot. So for them to make a film in that line is to carry on Ghibli’s legacy – with a studio or without a studio.” SKe ETA | 10 JUNE When Marnie Was There opens this summer.