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It's WONDERFUL! by KATHY MA
Impression by Nancy
"Whisper of the Heart" by Tets
It's WONDERFUL!
AH!!! I'm glad to see there are so many homepages of "Mimi Wo Sumaseba".
I love this film very much, It's WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!
My ranking for the film is 100, i.e., full mark.
I watched the film in spring 1997 when I was 17, it inspired me a lot....About life, relationship with family, etc.
And I love the envieonment around Shizuku. I wish I can climb up a hill near my home...And, of course, I want a bigger house. Actually it it's a house but only an apartment. I wish to meet some brilliant shop like the Earth Shop too.....AHH!!!!!
It seems that "Whisper of the Heart" was not as popular as "LAPUTA" OR "NAUSSICA",
either in Japan or HK. But I strongly recommend this film to all youngersters, esp. Those who love Japanese culture and have basic knowledge of Japanese.(the language).
30 May 1998 by KATHY MA
impression
Quite eerily, I watched this movie at home from a video, at the very moment John Denver (the guy who sang the original version of "Take me Home, Country Road") was killed at the plane crash.
I did not know about that until later while I watched the news. Aside from this eerie fact, I love that movie! I wish I was in the show the whole time I was watching it. You know, it's like the dream, the dream I used to dream a long time ago. It's always a dream, to do something we love and enjoy, and still have the blessings of the family.
After watching the movie, didn't you ponder over the fact that are you doing what you have longing to do, when you were a kid? And the use of that song, "Take me home, Country Road" is just so appropriate to add on the nostalgia feel. Seeking deep in your heart, that passion that is burning, home is that passion.
02 Dec. 1997 by Nancy
"Whisper of the Heart"
I was rather encouraged by watching this movie, through the style of living of its characters, Shizuku, Seiji, her parents, and her friends, since I had only felt depressed in many aspects whilst I was resident in Tokyo for about 25 years.
These days I have often met a phrase, 'the significance of creativity' in numerous written materials and I believe this simply explains that many of us Japanese are feeling its lack in our society and therefore seeking for those figures who can realise our such 'desire', which in the psycological sense dwell in the basic instinct of any living creature as well as the opposite, 'desire of destruction'.
This contrast is well described in the movie in terms of such creative activities as Shizuku's writing up a novel, Seiji's violin craft-work, and in the antique collections by Chikyuya's lord, whilst they all live in the suburb of Tokyo, in which just in a few decades has been destroyed what a human-being essentially needs in order to spend the comfortable day-to-day life and in which we ironically have found ourselves being surrounded by over-satisfying and unnecessary artificial objects in the end. In other words, this is obviously the intension of Miyazaki having a try to give us a clue through these figures, which is not limited in this movie, to get rid of being felt packed in the chaotic environment.
In the movie, Shizuku also has mentally grown through many occasions encountered with her boyfriend, Seiji, and in their relationship, which impressed me very much, they have improved themselves by stimulating each other. I felt this is one of the ideal and positive styles of being in a good relationship as a boyfriend and a girlfriend in the typical routinised life.
Finally, I do hope that this movie gives an opportunity to contemplate the current situation of the extremely urbanised society towards our better lives and expect also in Hayao's future movies!
02 Jul. 1997 by Tets
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