Anime Eiga Review: When Marine Was There

Film Synopsis

Anna Sasaki (voiced by Sara Takatsuki) has closed herself off from the world. Her sense of self-worth is at an all-time low and she believes there's no one she can rely on. Without a single living relative, she's lived with her foster parents for the majority of her life. 

One day, Anna is hit with a severe asthma attack. To ensure her recovery, Anna’s foster mother, Yoriko (voiced by Nanako Matsushima), sends her off to a small seaside town to live with Setsu and Kiyomasa Oiwa (voiced by Toshie Negishi and Susumu Terajima respectively).

While Anna does her best to recuperate, she doesn’t hide her distain for the situation; especially when people needless pry into her business. Not thrilled to be where she is, Anna wanders around the town looking for a place to draw in peace.

Out walking, Anna spots an old mansion across the marsh. The ageing home captivates her. Upon further inspection, Anna thinks she sees a young blonde hair girl in one of the windows. After asking about it, she's learns the house has been empty for many years and was once owned by a wealthy foreign family.

Anna returns to the home and is shocked when she sees it well-lit and full of life. What really takes her is when she meets the blonde hair girl from the window who introduces herself as Marnie (voiced by Kasumi Arimura).

Anna

Unlike anyone else, Anna finds can open up to Marnie and feels a special bond with her. However, Marnie is strangely connected with the house and appears to be carrying a heavy heart.

Film Positives

Marnie

When Marnie Was There was nominated for Best Animated Film at the 88^th Academy Awards. This is a damn fine movie, let’s just get that out of the way. Since it didn’t take home the Oscar, what film did must have been pretty good. Frankly, I don’t think that's possible. What ended winning; Inside Out...oh that would do it.

In all seriousness, When Marnie Was There is a fantastic movie; no question. Having already shown what he can do with The Secret World of Arrietty, director Hiromasa Yonebayashi is proof Studio Ghibli doesn’t need to rely solely on Takahata or Miyazaki. So yeah a…hinty hint hint guys.

Anna and Marnie

These girls needed each other right at this time. Anna was heading down a dark path she could’ve very easily never returned from. Marnie was trapped in a world of guilt which would have eventually suffocated her. Had they not meet, whatever could’ve happen wouldn’t have been good.

It’s hard to pick a single scene to highlight between them. They were all great and each one illustrated why these two made this movie a treat. I’m going to go with when Anna and Marnie were trapped inside an abandoned food silo.

Up to this point, Marnie has been our rock, our guide, and our beacon. She's been the one who was able to break through Anna’s shell and give her the support she desperately needed. Anna has confided in Marnie her awareness of her foster parents receiving aid from the government to help raise her. She realizes this is completely out of their control and their love for her is most likely genuine; which it is.

Regardless, it doesn’t take away from the gut-wrenching feelings associated with it. Adding to the problem, Anna’s parents haven’t told her about the checks directly. This makes it impossible for Anna to trust her foster family. Once you combine all this with her already strong feelings of resentment towards her biological family, to whom she feels left her all alone, it’s clear to see Anna isn’t in the best of places at the moment.

Marnie brought her back and that's why the silo scene is so strong. This is the first time Anna becomes Marnie’s support.

Marine is terrified by the silo and has awful associations with. All of which stem from the abusive treatment she's received from the house maids. But this place is where the answers are, so that’s why they go. Making matters worse, a powerful storm hits the town and traps them inside.

Marine begins losing it. She starts calling out for help and mistakes Anna for someone else; someone obviously important to her. To see a character who has been nothing but strength breakdown like this was difficult to watch. But to see Anna so assured and comforting was inspiring.

The Final Act

When Marine Was Here truly starts picking up steam when Marine enters the story. However, the final act hits dead center.  This is a huge spoiler, but I want to talk about it so badly because it’s so good.

I don’t think it’s a shock to anyone to hear Marine isn’t really there. Anna's the only one who can see and interact with her. That’s because Anna and Marie have an unbelievably strong connection.

Near the end of the film we learn Marine’s story and it’s not a happy one. She grows up to marry her lifelong friend and the two start a family. Unfortunately, when Marine’s daughter was little, Marine’s husband passed away. The grief of this loss was one Marine never fully recovered from and it got so bad she became unable to raise her child. Therefore she made the hard decision to send her daughter away to boarding school; a choice that would end up destroying their relationship.

When Marine’s daughter got older, she eloped with a man and the two had a child of their own; a daughter. Fate being a son of a bitch, Marine’s daughter and her husband are killed in a car accident. With too much death and heartbreaking happening around her, Marine was determined to not let her granddaughter grow up alone and took her in.

Marine loved this child with all her heart; this was her last vestige of happiness. However, a lifetime of grief finally won out and Marnie died only two years later; leaving behind her one and only granddaughter. Take a guess; take a wild guess who you think this kid is.

Marine meeting Anna was her chance to ask for forgiveness, which Anna full heartedly gave. But this wasn’t just an opportunity for Marine to move on; this is what Anna had been looking for. Anna's biological family didn’t abandon her, they loved her; they loved her so very much. This was the final crack that shattered her shell. Anna could at last see there were people out there who care for her.

This all lead up to best moment of the movie. It’s not long, it’s only a quick bit of dialogue, but it shot me right in the feels; and Marine wasn’t even part of the exchange. It happened between Anna and her foster mother, Yoriko.

Yoriko loves Anna who in her heart is her daughter; blood be damned. Yoriko worries over Anna. She loses sleep over her and would do anything to make her smile. She knows Anna doesn't fully reciprocate these feelings, or at least that’s how it used to be.

As Anna's going around town saying her goodbyes, she says somethings that brought everything to a close. She introduced Yoriko as her mother for the first time. A tear rolled down my cheek and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Film Negatives

I wasn’t kidding when I said the movie starts picking up when Marine appears in the story; which is a good thirty minutes in. The beginning is a tad slow.

It’s not bad, it’s not awful, it just kind of…meh.

There isn’t anything from the first act I would say needed to be taken out since it’s all pretty integral to overall plot. We see what kind of person Anna is and how introverted she has become. It kills me inside to say this, especially knowing it came from a place of hurt, but I initially saw Anna as kind of a whiner. It hurts even more having typed that out.

When Marine Was There portrayed a person’s depression. However, having seen an untold number of other stories not doing this well, the film’s slow start put me into that mindset again.

I have a lot of friends who have a hard time sitting through a movie. People have told me they've walked away from great films simply because the beginning didn’t grab them. I can see a lot of those same friends doing that with When Marine Was There as well.

If you’re one of those people, sit your ass down and finish the movie. It's not going to kill you. Let the story build before you make any judgments.

Final Thoughts

Do you want a movie that’s going to make you feel sad, depressed, and lonely before leaving you in a euphoric sense of happiness and joy? Then you’re going to love When Marine Was There.

However, if you’re simply looking for a good story; this movie’s got you covered too.

As of today, this has been the last Ghibli theatrical film to be produced and like it's been for the past thirty years, this studio once again manages capture something special. From Nausicaä to now you have a pretty good line up ahead of you.

Ghibli Month will continue tomorrow with Anime Hajime Review: Sanzoku no Musume Ronya, the studio’s very own anime production.

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