I Forgive You, Gorō Miyazaki
Ghibli Month — Chapter 19: From Up on Poppy Hill
Director — Gorō Miyazaki
Year of Release — 2011
Language — English
How Many Times Watched? — 2 times
Rating — ★★★½
This is a Good Watch. Gorō Miyazaki redeems himself in this cute 1960s high school romance.
When Tales from Earthsea disappointed audiences everywhere, Hayao Miyazaki blamed himself for letting an inexperienced animator helm a feature-length adaptation of a popular high fantasy novel series. Though, as with any profession, you should probably have a good idea of what you’re doing before you become the manager of the whole operation. Gorō Miyazaki was set up to fail.
And fail he did. Tales from Earthsea was a disaster (though not at the box office). It consistently sits at the bottom of every Studio Ghibli film ranking out there, and rightfully so. Its characters are bland. It feels two hours longer than it actually is. There is barely coherent plot throughout, but you would never know it because you probably fell asleep in the first half-hour where nothing happens.
Ok, maybe I’m being a bit harsh. But that doesn't change the fact that he made a truly terrible film that is nearly unwatchable. If you haven’t seen it, don’t bother. It is honestly impressive how boring it is. Read my discussion of this dumpster fire here.
But now Gorō has risen from the grave. It only took 5 years, but Miyazaki-san has become a phoenix with fire in his wings, redeeming himself from the mess that was Tales from Earthsea. Fun fact: the working title for From Up on Poppy Hill was actually The Redemption of Gorō Miyazaki. And it was actually proven that Gorō has a better redemption arc than Kylo Ren and Prince Zuko combined.
No longer will the name Gorō Miyazaki be associated with the trash heap that is Tales from Earthsea. No! From now on the name of Gorō Miyazaki shall be celebrated as a talented director that made one bad movie. And let’s be honest, who hasn't made a bad film? I know I have, and you most definitely have. If you want a real example, look at Edgar Wright who doesn’t even consider his first film, A Fistful of Fingers, to be part of his filmography it’s so bad.
All this to say that From Up on Poppy Hill is a wonderful film and a delight to watch. The film follows Umi, a high school girl that takes care of the house while her mother is away on business. When Umi meets Shun, the head of the newspaper club at school, a romance begins to develop. While helping Shun with the newspaper, Umi discovers the Latin Quarter, the school clubhouse, is at risk of demolition. Umi and Shun team up to help stop the clubhouse from closing and save the historic Latin Quarter.
From Up on Poppy Hill is no game-changer, but it gets the job done. It’s a good film with a solid story and loveable characters. One thing that impressed me is how well you are able to feel with Umi and Shun, through the highs and lows. You deeply feel their pain and can’t help but cheer along with their joy. It helps that Hayao Miyazaki co-wrote the screenplay. The writing is substantially better than Tales from Earthsea. I guess all it needed was the right Miyazaki writing it.
I’m sure Hayao’s script helped considerably, but it’s easy for a good script to get lost in bad direction. Gorō really stepped up his game with From Up on Poppy Hill. It was better in every way. It goes to show what you can accomplish after a hard failure.
While Tales from Earthsea was technically a success, being the third highest-grossing film in Japan in 2006 and being nominated for Best Animation of the Year at the Japanese Academy Awards, it is remembered as a failure, holding an abysmal 43% on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t need to get into Tales from Earthsea being bad again. We get it.
But Gorō didn’t quit. He kept at it and decided to direct another film. He learned from his mistakes and gained the experience he needed to make a better movie. His hard work paid off. From Up on Poppy Hill was better received and is remembered much more fondly, holding an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. Rather than just being nominated for Best Animation of the Year, it won.
From Up on Poppy Hill isn’t just decidedly better than Tales from Earthsea, it is an emphatically great film, fully deserving of its recognition and accolades. It isn’t going to top the Studio Ghibli rankings, but it definitely won’t disappoint. Give this film a good watch and enjoy a lesser-known gem of a title from that “other” Miyazaki. Sorry, Gorō. Just kidding. I’m proud of you. Keep up the good work.
It is exciting to see Gorō has another film coming out later this year on Japanese TV. He is helming the studio’s first-ever fully 3D-CG film, Aya and the Witch. They’ve shown off a few screenshots and it looks promising. I wonder how much better it’ll be after another nine years of growth. Keep on keeping on, Gorō!
