Film Synopsis
Avid bookworm, Shizuku
Tsukishima (voiced by Yoko Honna), lives with her family in a small apartment
in Tokyo. All things considered, Shizuku has a pretty normal life and nothing
all that special ever seems to happen. Recently though she’s noticed something
strange. The past few books she’s borrowed have all been previously check out
by someone named Seiji Amasawa.
Shizuku constantly wonders who this person is. Are they nice, are they friendly, are
they good looking? Slowly an image of the mysterious Seiji begins to form in
her head. This could very well be be her
prince charming. As long as it’s not this one
jerk she knows (voiced Issei Takahashi) who has the very bad habit of showing up at the most
annoying of times.
To her disappointment, Seiji
is indeed this person. He turns out to be the grandson of the owner of a
small, but unique antique shop. Shizuku finds the small boutique fascinating and ends up spending quite a bit of time there, thus gets to know Seiji a
little better.
Shizuku’s distain turns into admiration and affection. Seiji has longed dreamed of perfecting
his skills as violin craftsman and his dedication fills Shizuku with
awe since she has no idea what she wants to
with her own life. Their relationship grows deeper and when Seiji has a chance to fulfill his dream, Shizuku couldn’t be happier.
Her support for Seiji also fuels her own drive and she issues herself a challenge. There’s a story in her head she has wanted to tell and now is the time to tell it. She gives herself until Seiji’s return to complete her novel, but that is easier said than done.
Her support for Seiji also fuels her own drive and she issues herself a challenge. There’s a story in her head she has wanted to tell and now is the time to tell it. She gives herself until Seiji’s return to complete her novel, but that is easier said than done.
Over the next few weeks,
Shizuku pores all her heart into her manuscript. The nagging fear of being
left behind eats away at the young girl. Her dread of failure is in constant
battle against her anguish of potential regret.
Yet, is this not the place
where stories are born?
Film Positives
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| Shizuku |
Unexpected, but I’m on board.
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| Seiji |
I mean for Christ’s sake,
this is one of the best fantasy films I have ever seen which didn’t have any
real fantasy to it. This movie managed to turn modern day Tokyo, of the 1990s,
into a wonderland without the use of magic or mysticism.
Whisper of the Heart was pretty good.
Shizuku’s Struggle
Shizuku is a great lead; right up there with the likes of Nausicaä, Sheeta, and Pazu. Unlike the others, Shizuku doesn’t go on a grand adventure nor does she have the fate of the world resting on her shoulders. She’s just an average girl with a talent for writing.
That’s what I loved
about her. She’s literally no different than any middle schooler and is at an age where thinking about the future starts to become a factor. When tricky subjects like love get
suddenly thrown into the mix, it’s a lot to wrap your mind around and surprise,
surprise Shizuku doesn’t know how to handle it all.
When
she meets Seiji, who not only know what he wants to do, but is actually pursuing
it, how could she not feel a little frustrated. Suddenly she
had to make an important decision; do nothing or do something?
My favorite aspect
of this movie is how it portrays Shizuku’s creative process. Long
nights in the zone, blocking out irrelevant noises and
obligations to put your thoughts on paper, infuriating spells of writers block
and exhaustion, and the sudden random moments of realization. It’s all
there and I’ve felt every single one of them before in my own writing.What really got me was when she finished her story. It was done, it was complete, but for Shizuku it wasn't over. There was a lot on the line, the most important being weather or not she had any potential in the first place.
Weeks upon weeks of stress and uncertainty filled her head. At no point did she allow her emotions to escape. By the time she gave her story to Seiji’s grandfather, Shiro Nishi (voiced by Keiju Kobayashi), she was pretty high-strung.
Shiro admits Shizuku's talent is
raw and unpolished, but it’s there none the less. That was enough to unleashed all those pent up feelings. This moment was incredibly genuine and you
really felt her relief, almost as if you were sharing the same burden.
The ability to
portray emotion as powerful as that makes watching such a story all the more
memorable and meaningful. That and I really want to read the story Shizuku
wrote.
Film Negatives
Though the beginning
of the film was good, I’m not entirely sure it was needed. Why was Shizuku translating Country Roads? It led to a great
scene, but did it really have to be here?
I guess it showed Shizuku having a good deal of writing
talent. Plus I like this version of the song so I’m fine letting it stay as it
is without thinking about it too much.
However, what about the side plot involving Shizuku’s friend trying to get the attention of her crush? It’s possible to say it raised the stakes when this ended up turning into a small love triangle. But nothing came of it and I would argue it didn’t contribute much to the real point of the plot; which again was Shizuku writing her story and her relationship with Seiji.
Since both these
aspects were supporting details and not major elements, it’s easy to look the
other way.
The same isn’t as
true for what I’m about to say.
The Romance
This was so forced
and didn't have to be in the movie. I say this because for the amount of time
spent on the romance between Shizuku and Seiji, it’s very underdeveloped.In the entirety of knowing each other, which is probably no more than a week, it only ever established Shizuku with any interest in a romantic relationship. Sure the film tries say Seiji does as well, but sitting quietly across from Shizuku as she writes her story isn’t enough.
At best there’s a mutual admiration and the film could’ve gotten away with just that. Too bad the absolute last scene completely jumped the shark.
I won’t say what happened,
but keep this in mind. There was, again, maybe a week of communication between
them and then Seiji went away for two months. These are middle-schoolers and
I simply don’t believe anything more than that.
Final Thoughts
Whisper of the Heart was Yoshifumi Kondo’s directorial debut.
Ghibli was hoping he would serve as the successor for Miyazaki and
Takahata. This film was wonderful and showed great promise for an up and
coming talent. Sadly, this would be the only film Kondo would direct before his
passing in 1998.
Whisper of
the Heart is a beautiful movie; combining urban Tokyo with fantasy.
Although sporting a romance that is questionable at best, it served as fuel for
an amazing portrayal of a young writer’s struggle to express the tale within in
head.
Ghibli Month will continue tomorrow with 1997’s Princess Mononoke.
Ghibli Month will continue tomorrow with 1997’s Princess Mononoke.
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