I'll just start by recounting the things I appreciate and think this movie did well: The main character Anna's unreality blending with reality. An abandoned mansion across a lake in a quiet village. The tides that open and close a path. Pencil sketches. The decay of a mansion. Illusions from a past. A dance with the flower girl. A haunted silo on a hill. Plenty of sentimental strings. Excessive use of windy field recordings (why else would you watch anime). Self- loathing introvert Anna. Dreamy rich secluded girl Marnie. An old taciturn fisherman. A nighttime picnic with juice and cookies. A classy suits-and-dresses party. "Fine on the Outside". Anna passing out in ditches (I'm stretching it now).
The whole movie is visually pleasing. I always welcome peaceful depictions of a countryside. I loved that the mystery of the mansion and who Marnie was, lasted long. Patient storytelling is a huge plus.
Unfortunately I disliked some things too. Mostly the ending. Anna's self-hatred is neglected by the end. Her character arc doesn't make a lot of sense. She just transforms into this new happy girl, or at least I was left with that impression, which is just the same.
It really felt like a gimmick when they faded away the background noise right as the super obvious plot twist was revealed. It's like they're telling us "you're supposed to be awe-struck now!". It's effective when you don't see it coming, I guess. But I had figured that Anna already made that connection when she listened to Hisako's completely revealing story. Perhaps she didn't know she was in a movie where nothing can be a coincidence.
In the end, the writers mess up a good socially anxious character by embracing, excuse my cynicism, typical family-movie-level optimism. It carefully maneuvers around realer, darker matters (like that of what seems to be her escapist delusions) by stuffing the viewer's throat full of parental love and finding happiness and friendship. All timeless clichés, but so uncalled for here, given the mysterious setting and mature tone of the first three fourths of the movie. Why remain on the surface when there are deeper waters waiting to be explored?
You see it's hard for me to find virtue in Marnie and Anna's relationship now that I know the outcome and know who Marnie is. Especially when I know who Marnie is. Tell no one this, but I had my fingers crossed for their relationship to blossom (Ghibli doing yuri would be a sight to behold). Or at least for something more daring and mature to happen.
I learned afterwards that this is indeed based on a British children's novel from the 60s, so that explains a lot I guess. Ech. How naive I was to think this was an original and recent creation. Oh well. At least finding solace in illusions is still a beautiful sentiment.
The whole movie is visually pleasing. I always welcome peaceful depictions of a countryside. I loved that the mystery of the mansion and who Marnie was, lasted long. Patient storytelling is a huge plus.
Unfortunately I disliked some things too. Mostly the ending. Anna's self-hatred is neglected by the end. Her character arc doesn't make a lot of sense. She just transforms into this new happy girl, or at least I was left with that impression, which is just the same.
It really felt like a gimmick when they faded away the background noise right as the super obvious plot twist was revealed. It's like they're telling us "you're supposed to be awe-struck now!". It's effective when you don't see it coming, I guess. But I had figured that Anna already made that connection when she listened to Hisako's completely revealing story. Perhaps she didn't know she was in a movie where nothing can be a coincidence.
In the end, the writers mess up a good socially anxious character by embracing, excuse my cynicism, typical family-movie-level optimism. It carefully maneuvers around realer, darker matters (like that of what seems to be her escapist delusions) by stuffing the viewer's throat full of parental love and finding happiness and friendship. All timeless clichés, but so uncalled for here, given the mysterious setting and mature tone of the first three fourths of the movie. Why remain on the surface when there are deeper waters waiting to be explored?
You see it's hard for me to find virtue in Marnie and Anna's relationship now that I know the outcome and know who Marnie is. Especially when I know who Marnie is. Tell no one this, but I had my fingers crossed for their relationship to blossom (Ghibli doing yuri would be a sight to behold). Or at least for something more daring and mature to happen.
I learned afterwards that this is indeed based on a British children's novel from the 60s, so that explains a lot I guess. Ech. How naive I was to think this was an original and recent creation. Oh well. At least finding solace in illusions is still a beautiful sentiment.