HomeEntertainmentJapan's 'Suzume' stars at Berlinale after 20-year anime hiatus

Japan's 'Suzume' stars at Berlinale after 20-year anime hiatus

Japanese director Makoto Shinkai admits that he “didn’t have an eye on the global market” when making “Suzume”.

But he could be sitting on a global hit with the primary Japanese anime to compete in the principle competitors on the Berlinale since Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” gained the Golden Bear in 2002.

“Suzume”, which follows a teenage woman on a mission to shut a collection of magical doorways to forestall earthquakes, is already a blockbuster at dwelling.

It is now one in all 19 movies competing for the highest prize on the Berlinale this yr.

“With animation you can reach out to so many people. If I were to tell you this is a film about a great tsunami then I don’t think so many people would ever watch it but with animation you can actually achieve quite a lot,” Shinkai mentioned.

In the anime, Suzume is accompanied on her journey by a younger man, Souta.

The pair journey to varied places throughout Japan in a bid to shut the doorways, that are at all times situated in deserted or ruined elements of cities.

Suzume ultimately has to determine whether or not to avoid wasting Souta’s life or threat unleashing an enormous earthquake that may destroy the world.

Shinkai, 50, mentioned the principle aim in his thoughts when making the movie was “to entertain the audience”.

“What I wanted was… for lots of young people to see this film (or) for older people for example to go… together with their grandchildren,” he instructed journalists.

Animation as a style will help filmmakers to draw a broader viewers however can be “something which makes sense in addressing big issues”, he mentioned.

Shinkai mentioned he had intentionally created a scenario the place “it’s a young woman who saves the man” as a result of he “wanted to be disassociated from (the) traditional male role”.

His inspiration for the character of Suzume got here from Miyazaki’s 1989 movie “Kiki’s Delivery Service”, wherein a teenage woman is coaching as a witch, he mentioned.

He additionally drew on Japanese mythology and the character of Uzume, who dances when the door to the solar closes, he mentioned, hailing the “many universal values” represented in historical folklore.

“We didn’t have an eye on the global market for this film and yet I think that this approach may well mean it gives us a chance to address subjects which are really universal,” he mentioned.

© 2023 AFP

Source

Latest