Movie of the Day: February 18, 2003

IMDb Movie of the Day
A lighter, less ominous precursor to this year's Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro is a childhood tale that holds great appeal for adults, too. With anime drawn in a style leaning on a pleasing mix of fantasy and gentle dreams, we are pulled persistently into the world of two little girls, Mei (Chika Sakamoto) and Satsuki (Noriko Hidaka), sisters who move to the countryside with their father Tatsuo (Shigesato Itoi) when their mother (Sumi Shimamoto) becomes very ill and is hospitalized nearby. The girls enjoy the adventure of exploring their spacious if decrepit home, soon discovering that it is inhabited by ghosts called "soot sprites", who are not threatening any way, but mere spirit inhabitants of the once-abandoned house. The girls' explorations soon spread to the vast forest next to their house, where they meet more spirits called totoros, lead by the giant Totoro (Hitoshi Takagi), not to mention the fantastically mobile Cat Bus ghost. Again, there is absolutely nothing scary or evil about these spirits, traits that seem to have become unavoidable ingredients in most children's films. There is peacefulness and sense of fun adventure in the presence of the totoros, who seem akin to the comforting invisible friends that many kids create, watching and accompanying the sisters in their play and day-to-day activities. The closest thing to a scary monster in the story is the serious illness that threatens the girls' mother throughout the film, but that sickness is construed as a part of the ebb and flow of life, as opposed to a pain-filled melodramatic plot point. The essence of tranquility and grace of this film seems to mirror what life could be, if only mankind could let fear recede and embrace the unknown. (more)

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