January 29 movie: Whisper of the Heart. I believe this movie was written by Miyazaki but directed by someone else at Studio Ghibli. It was a wonderful story about two teenagers who meet just as their lives are both changing. It was much more based in reality than any other Ghibli film I've seen, but still had a magical sensibility. While watching I felt like magical things might happen at any moment, and maybe were happening just off screen, if that makes sense.
This movie wasn't much for the big drama of, say, Mononoke or Spirited Away. It reminded me more of Totoro in the sense of building a story out of small, beautiful moments. I don't want to give much away, but I loved how much books figured into their relationship. The girl develops a crush on the boy sight unseen, because she keeps seeing his name on the cards in the backs of library books. Then eventually she finds out that he'd been reading books he thought she might like, because he already had a crush on her. I hope this comes out on DVD soon because I really want to see it again.
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