When Marnie Was There is a Japanese foreign language film and animated film made by Studio Ghibli.
The film follows the story of a 12-year old girl named Anna who moves to a new town with her new adoptive "Aunt and Uncle".
Anna sees herself as an outsider and an abandoned orphan.
She befriends someone who is just as an outsider as herself; a mysterious young blonde girl named Marnie, who lives across the bay from her. Quickly the two become almost inseparable.
The film touches on many themes surrounding friendship, trust, family and the history of Japanese towns in the post World War Two era.
Synopsis
As described above When Marnie Was There centres around a young girl named Anna who moves to a new Japanese town without knowing anyone.
Anna, a tomboy in her own regard doesn't make friends easily and spends most of her time alone drawing.
One day she adventures around the area and discovers an abandoned mansion just off of the main coast of the town. When she get's there the place seems to transform right in front of her eyes.
There she meets Marnie, a blonde girl who actually lives there with her family. The two become close but because of her parents Marnie can't ever leave her house.
It isn't a problem with Anna as she ends up making trips back and forth between her house and Marnie's.
Anna can't seem to describe how magical everything seems with Marnie and why everyone in the town thinks the mansion is abandoned.
Over time Anna's suspensions grow about Marnie and her house, but she can't bring herself to think about it. After all, Marnie is her best friend.
The rest of the film follows the two girls as they grow close together and Anna discovers just how enchanting her new best friend is.
Important Themes
When Marnie Was There is a very sweet film. It is one of the newer films Studio Ghibli has produced after the retirement of the great Hayao Miyazaki.
The film may not be as flashy as Ghibli's past films with magical wizards, sorcerers, flying broomsticks and talking animals. But the film still carries the same charming undertone.
The film touches on many themes surrounding friendship, family, fitting into new settings and adoption.
Human Rights Watch estimates from the year 2014 hold that there are over 34,000 children who live in "institutions" across Japan.
Many of these children are either taken from or abandoned by their biological parents. And because there is no meaningful foster-care system set in place in the country, the vast majority of children in these institutions end up being raised in sub-par institutions that lack support and proper funding from the government.
As it turns out, Japan has the second highest adoption rate worldwide. But the vast majority of these adoptions occur with adults who are adopted to take over family businesses. With only 12% of children foster care or adoptive parents as described in this article by The Economist.
Moreover, When Marnie Was There also touches on the effects the Second World War had on many Japanese towns.
During and after the war, many areas of the Japanese Empire were resided over by American, Russian and other Western European powers.
Many high ranking generals and their families lived around the country while the occupation process happened. Unbeknownst to popular belief many American and Europeans actually did little to help with the democratization and repairing process while in Japan.
Instead, many were responsible for disarming the masses and made profit from their positions of rank. Many took advantage of their positions and took control of massive estates, money and had significant influence across different Japanese constituencies.
The country of Japan has gone through an extraordinary rate of change over the past half century.
Today, Japan is considered to be one of the wealthiest and modern countries worldwide.
When Marnie Was There is a film that shows how a quaint, small town off of the Japanese Mainland still carries it's culture forward onto the future. Without it being swallowed up by the nuance tech-cosmopolitan culture seen in big cities like Tokyo and Kyoto.
Conclusion
When Marnie Was There is a great film which I regard as a standout when it comes to films produced by Studio Ghibli. It provides a quite unique take on Japanese animation, making the film seem more realistic and mature.
Don't get me wrong, I do adore Studio Ghibli films. But for me, When Marnie Was There is endearing because it steps away from the traditional means of Ghibli production.
The storyline is well thought out, making the film even more dramatic and at times heartbreaking. I love the sweet nature of Studio Ghibli films.
When Marnie Was There is another prime example of this tied with a some unexpected moments of magic that will test your emotions.
