Castle In The Sky, it does what it says on the tin. If ever there was a film that delivers everything you might request in a fantasy story, this is it.
Watching Laputa: Castle In The Sky as a child, I had no knowledge of what I was seeing, short of a wondrous film that would later form the basis for my university dissertation. I saw the initial dubbed version as an 8-year-old boy and instantly my brother and I made it our staple film. I don't mean to gush, I truly don't, but it is 'wondrous,' and I’ll tell you why. Based on the filmmaker's knowledge of Wales (Miyazaki was hugely influenced by the country and the miner's strikes in the 1980s when visiting) and his reading of Dianne Wynne Jone's novels, Hayao Miyazaki set about creating a basis for a fantastical film, largely influenced (clearly) by Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels) - Laputa being the floating island Gulliver encounters.
The story takes place in a mining town (deliberately not named), and centres around the day to day life of our lead character Pazu (voiced in the three edits by Mayumi Tanaka, Barbara Goodson - yes, a lady as a boy - and lastly James Van der Beek - yeah, him?!), an orphan working in a mine. There is initially and throughout the greatest sense of family in this film - that being the subtle message that permeated this man's childhood experience.
One day, Pazu looks up from the wince platform he operates and a blue glow is descending from the heavens. He bounds over to the centre of the machine and realizes he's seeing an unconscious girl floating into his arms...and then suddenly crashing into them. Being a good lad, Pazu takes her to his deceased father's home and seeks to nurse her back to health, while also looking after his menagerie of pigeons (Wales you see?).
As it transpires, Sheeta (that's the lasses name – voiced by Keiko Yokozawa, Lara Cody and Anna Paquin) has escaped from the government and would really rather not go back. The blue glow? Well, that's the levitation pendant her mum gave her when she was a kid, resting around her neck. Long story short, and I wouldn't want to write it all here for you anyway, this is the boys’ story! Think how you felt when you saw Princess Bride - it's the animated equivalent of that. There are pirates (good guys), the government (bad guys), extended family, chivalry, chase scenes, airships, planes, trains, automobiles, fights, floating islands, and there's even your introduction to love.
Hayao Miyazaki. He's the chap that everyone speaks about now, and rightly so. For many in the west (until Disney bought the Ghibli studio) an unknown talent, a newly discovered filmmaker that has happily got an extensive back catalogue. Whether you had the luxury of growing up on his films, as so many Japanese children did, and I unwittingly did, or whether you take the time now to familiarize yourself with any and all (My Neighbour Totoro being the standout feature) of these stories, the Ghibli Studio as a whole is that must see event.
Miyazaki seeks to bring the heart out of a script and deliver it with a healthy dose of joy. His characters are those that you can't help but like - and the bad guys, you can't help but revel in beating. Imagination is the staple of any good film, and when it comes to a fantasy film, you have to have that element of dream about it - that element that Hayao Miyazaki has managed to flood children's minds with for well over thirty years. His direction is fluid; it encompasses all of the real, and mixes it flawlessly with the imaginary. It's Miyazaki's 'set design' (if you can say that about anime?) that grounds you (understanding that if it can happen in Wales, then it can happen anywhere) and allows your mind to indulge.
Set in a sleepy mining village and the skies above, with Japanese characters, a hint of Atlantis in the air and a love/friendship story all thrown in, Laputa: Castle In The Sky is the fantasy that we all should be exposed to as a child. I hope you were, but if not...there's still time.
Fan: David Wing
No comments:
Post a Comment