Jason says:
“While there are many reasons to be concerned about the health of
animation as a medium in Japan, from all-time greats retiring to the
increasing insularity of certain genres, there is still plenty of
talent doing excellent and original work on a regular basis. WOLF
CHILDREN writer/director Mamoru Hosada is one of them, and close to the
top of the list, with this feature just the latest demonstration of
what an exceptional storyteller he is.
“As the narration tells us, Hana (voice of Aoi Miyazaki) was in college
on scholarship, working a part-time job to pay rent when she met Kare
(voice of Takao Ohsawa), the love of her life. He’s a mover who
comes to University lectures despite not being enrolled, and, as it
turns out, a wolf-man, perhaps the last in Japan. They marry and
have two children, rambunctious daughter Ame and sickly son Yuki.
The city, alas, is no place for wolves of any age, and Hana soon
decides to take her children to the country, where they can run and
change free from suspicious neighbors, although Hana must learn a
number of new skills to get by.
“One of the less-heralded things that animation can do – and that
traditional animation can do better than the digital variety – is to
have time pass smoothly; visually, there’s no need to cast different
actors for different ages or mess around with makeup jobs that never
really convince. Perhaps the best example of this is Satoshi
Kon’s MILLENIUM
ACTRESS, but it’s something Hosada uses to great effect here;
the story plays out over roughly thirteen years, and in that time we
see Hana mature from an inexperienced nineteen-year-old to a capable
woman in her mid-thirties so naturally that we don’t see the individual
steps until it’s over. In fact, it’s actually somewhat jarring
when Ame’s voice switches from Amon Kabe to Yukito Nishii (and Yuki’s
from Momoka Ohno to Haru Kuroki); the way the characters look and act
has progressed so perfectly that this discontinuity stands out.
“The really impressive thing, though, is that Hosada doesn’t just stop
at aging with this; as the substance of the film becomes more mature,
the style does too. The wolf and werewolf forms of pre-school Ame
and Yuki are just the cutest things you will ever see, straight out of
Saturday morning cartoons for small children – they must have sold a
bunch of stuffed Ames in Japan – but greater detail and realism comes
as the film asks the audience to consider things more seriously.
Hosada uses these contrasts in other ways as well – a scene where
workers some distance away appear faceless in part because details
aren’t drawn at that distance makes them frightening even if the
primary motive might have been budgetary. There are some moments
when the filmmakers seem to bump up against what they can afford with
some slightly awkward CGI or limited background animation and detail
that doesn’t quite look like a stylistic choice – but they’re more than
made up for by knowing how to use the form, such as when the story of
the kids’ elementary school days is covered in a single pan that spans
three years.
“For all the skill Hosada, co-writer Satoko Okudera, and the rest show
in telling the story, they also make it quite a joy to watch. The
core group of Hana, Ame, and Yuki are quite easy to root for, and
there’s a lot of fun had with the idea that small children and wild
animals can have a few things in common, as well as how no parent is
ever truly prepared for the challenges she faces. Hosada doesn’t
confuse maturity with darkness, either – for all that there is some of
the latter in the movie, there’s far more optimism, acceptance, and
good humor.
“That’s especially true with Hana. She quickly became a favorite
character for me, in part because even after dropping out of school,
there’s something very upbeat about how her solution to every challenge
that comes her way is to learn all she can. Aoi Miyazaki’s voice
work blends seamlessly with that of the animators to make her real,
something that is true of most characters and voice actors, with Amon
Kabe as the younger Ame another standout. The characters are all
realized well enough that the sharp turns they take are obvious, are
quite believable.
“(It is worth mentioning that I watched the film with the original
Japanese soundtrack; the American dub in the previews sounded decent,
but not as good, from my brief exposure.)
“WOLF CHILDREN isn’t the sort of bombastic, action-packed movie many
associate with Japanese animation; it spends a fair amount of time on
Hana learning how to farm, for instance. It is, however, a
thoroughly impressive one, a notch above Hosada’s last fine effort
(SUMMER WARS) and full of ways to quietly impress the audience even
when it’s not generating the huge grins. 5 cats
“Seen 13 January 2014 in Jay’s Living Room (catch-up, Blu-ray)” |
