starring Miki Imai, Toshirō Yanagiba, Yōko Honna
directed by Isao Takahata
118 minutes
in Japanese with English subtitles
Twenty-seven year-old Taeko Okajima (Miki Imai) takes time off from her job to travel to the countryside and visit with some of her eldest sister's in-laws. She helps them to harvest to harvest safflower. She reflects several times to when she was just ten.
The memories begin as she leaves her job in Tokyo and travels to the farm. She continues to think back to her life at ten over the course of the ten days she spends on the farm. She hangs out with Toshio (Toshirō Yanagiba), a cousin of her sister's husband. Toshio's grandmother can see that Taeko loves it there. She tries to convince Taeko to stay and marry Toshio. Taeko is taken aback by the suggestion which is delivered just as she is less than 24 hours from returning to her life in Tokyo.
Ten-year-old Taeko was voiced by Yōko Honna.
There is considerably more of 10-year-old Taeko in the first half of the movie than there is 27-year-old Taeko. The 10-year-old version of the character tends to pop up whenever the 27-year-old version starts reflecting.
The animation is hand drawn and probably looks a bit primitive by today's standards but it is beautiful. There are places where the backgrounds are not as filled in as one might expect them to be.
Isao Takahata was one of the co-founders of Studio Ghibli, which produced this movie. Other Studio Ghibli films that I have seen include Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), and The Boy and the Heron (2023).
I'm definitely not the target audience for this film but I enjoyed it very much. I think what spoke to me most was the way the film takes it's time and lingers. It is not fast paced in the least bit.
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