Anime Eiga Review: The Secret World of Arrietty

Film Synopsis

Arriving at his mother’s childhood home, nestled away in a peaceful tree grove, a boy named Sho (voiced by Ryunsouke Kamiki) catches a glimpse of an unusual site. A cat seems to be looking at something hidden away in the bushes. It’s only for a second, but Sho thinks he sees a small girl running away in the leaves.

Unbeknownst to Sho, that's exactly what he saw. The young girl is a Borrower named Arrietty (voiced by Mirai Shida). Borrowers are tiny people who survive by...borrowing items no one would miss; a single sugar cube, a piece of tissue paper, a sewing needle that has been lost and forgotten. The life of a person so small is filled with dangers and the one thing a Borrower must never allow to happen is to be seen by a human.

Arrietty is brimming with excitement, for tonight is her first borrowing mission with her father Pod (voiced Tomokazu Miura). Her mother, Homily (voiced by Shinobu Otake) is naturally worried sick, but her daughter’s enthusiasm is too strong.

Arrietty can only imagine what she will see and her expectations are not disappointed. The mundane and typical items of the human world are large and imposing wonders to a Borrower. Slowly and carefully, Arrietty and her father make their way around the house. Unfortunately, one momentary lapse in attention is all it takes for everything to go wrong.

Unlike in the garden, Sho manages to get a clear and undeniable look at Arrietty. Though the boy has no intention of harming the family, once a Borrower is seen, the only thing to do is move to another location.

Yet in the span of a week, Sho and Arrietty will form a friendship that will last forever.

Film Positives

Arrietty

Of all the films this month, The Secret World of Arrietty is the only one I have actually seen in theaters. Let me tell you about this experience.

Sho

I went with two of my friends during the middle of the day during the middle of the week. For some reason, this was the time when every single child in town wanted to watch this movie as well. The only seats left were the first four in the front theater which were split by the center aisle. Now since my friends were a couple, they of course sat together and that meant I had to sit apart from them. Because I was older than ninety-five percent of the audience by about fifteen years, it made the whole thing quite awkward and it was hard to enjoy the movie.

Having now seen the film in my preferred way, solitude, I’ve come to realize that The Secret World of Arrietty is phenomenal.

Size

I’ve always liked stories which involve small characters because the typical is no longer ordinary. Imagine walking up to something like Grand Canyon and being blown away by its sheer size and magnitude. Now imagine the same set up, but you’re looking at someone’s kitchen.

The attention to detail in this movie is incredible. Think of all the many curves, cracks, groves, nooks and crannies that exist on your average shelf, never mind your entire house. This movie makes you feel small and you appreciate the challenges a Borrower has to go through.

Thus, whenever a Borrower interacts with a human, you completely understand the disadvantage they have.

Sho would never intentionally hurt Arrietty or her family. In fact if things were in his control, he would ask them to move into his grandfather’s dollhouse which was specifically made for Borrowers in mind. However, he’s still in essence a giant and finesse is almost impossible.

Trying to help, Sho finds Arrietty’s home and gives the family the fully functional kitchen from the dollhouse. Being sure to move as slowly and as carefully as possible, Sho gently replaces the rooms. Too bad from a Borrowers’ and our point of view, that’s not at all what happened.

To see this play out in reality would be terrifying. Your home’s roof is ripped off, the wall is removed with zero effort what so ever, and an entire fancy kitchen is dropped right in front of you. It’s loud, scary, and many things are now destroyed.

I’m sure Sho thought he was being super careful, but oh my god.

Tension

Through the film, there was always a sense the Borrowers lived in a dangerous world. Their life isn’t easy and it’s understandable to see why they would be warry of animals and humans. The Secret World of Arrietty goes one step further and provides an actual threat for the film’s climax.

Sho is being taken care of by the house’s caretaker Haru (voiced by Kirin Kiki). This woman is a vial human being; I cannot stand her. This old hag is slimy, conniving, and for some reason really, really wants to capture the Borrowers.

That ends up happening; Haru manages to catch Arrietty’s mother. The whole time Homily is in this awful woman’s possession, you're begging for her safety. I honestly couldn’t tell you what Haru’s intentions were, but there's no way they were good. She calls the damn exterminators to the house. Sure she says asks them to not kill what they find, but what were she going to do if they found them?

While Arrietty and Sho are trying to save Homily, you’re routing for them and when they succeed it's triumphant.

Film Negatives

There’s one thing which does irk me about this movie and it’s not the first time Ghibli's done this either. This is another ninety minute movie that goes by in a flash.

The other time this happened was with My Neighbor Totoro. Despite how much I like both of these movies, I still can't help think they're just too short. The difference between the two is Totoro’s story could get away with this.

I don’t get same feeling with Arrietty. Unlike Totoro, there’s an actually dilemma throughout the entirety of the film. We're in and out real quick, and I can’t help but wonder how much more could have been added.

For instance, did Arrietty have to be seen on the first night? Couldn’t she have gone on one mission exploring the house? It would have given Ghibli the chance to do what it does best. This movie seems unnecessarily fast.

I’m not saying rushed, absolutely not. The story is wonderfully paced and it's a complete narrative. Everything makes sense, everything is connected, and every event flows perfectly into the next.

What I’m saying is twenty extra minutes wouldn’t have risked destroying all of that. A little bit more exploration, a little bit more character building, hell we could’ve gotten a little more insight into why Haru is such awful human being.

Yet if this is the only problem I have with the movie, I’ve got to say, I could be doing way worse.

Final Thoughts

Although my first viewing of this movie wasn’t during my most ideal conditions, I remember enjoying it. However, seeing it again reaffirmed what I initially thought; The Secret World of Arrietty is great.

This film does a brilliant job at putting you in the position of a Borrower. Everything is big, everything is potentially dangerous, but if you take a moment to look at it all, it’s a sight to behold. The whole time you’re pulling for the characters and you always want them to be safe. The ending's quite neutral; it’s certainly not sad, but happy isn’t the right word either. I guess if I had to quickly sum it up, this movie is very pleasant and is totally worth checking out.

Ghibli Month will continue tomorrow with 2011’s From Up on Poppy Hill.

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