Sunday, December 1, 2013

Family Movie Night: From Up on Poppy Hill

Title: From Up on Poppy Hill
Director: Goro Miyazaki
Original Release: 2011
Choice: My Wife's
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5
via Wikipedia

Full disclosure: this movie was virtually guaranteed at least a 4-rating from me for the setting alone.  Yokohama is near and dear to my heart.  Frequent visitors already know that I've spent five years of my life in Japan - three as a child and two as an adult.  I was born a diplo-brat in Tokyo.  When I went back, it was to teach English in Yokohama.  Without a doubt, it was the great formative experience of my young adulthood and the spirit of the city will course through my veins until my dying day.



Not surprisingly, my Yokohama of the mid- to late '90s had changed a great deal from the early '60s version in From Up on Poppy Hill.  By my time, the street cars were gone, the roads were all paved and the buildings were taller.  But some parts of the city - the downtown area and the walk along the harbor at Sakuragi-cho - while certainly less developed, were instantly recognizable, inspiring audible sighs from me and eye rolls from My Wife.  No mere Tokyo suburb, this city of 3 million is fiercely proud of its maritime history and the movie showcases that very nicely.

Of course, there's a story, too, based on Kokuriko-zaka Kara, a serialized comic by Chizuru Takahashi and Tetsuro Sayama.  Umi is a teenage girl who raises maritime flags every day as a message to her long lost father.  One day, she meets Shun, a boy at school who is working with his friends to save an old clubhouse.  They fall in love, but there are complications as mysteries about their family histories are unraveled.

Like I said, I was predisposed to liking this film from the start.  But in addition to my affection for the city, I found Umi's and Shun's relationship to be entirely authentic.  No over the top romance here, just a simple warmth that draws them together.  They belong to one another.  Love is everywhere in movies, as if it's something that happens as a matter of course and we as the audience are expected to accept it without question.  Every once in a while, though, I see love I truly believe.  Such was the case here.  I felt their pain when the complications came.

From Up on Poppy Hill was Goro Miyazaki's second film.  While I enjoyed the first, Tales from Earthsea (review here), this one feels like a big step up.  The critics were much kinder, too.

Finally, Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue o Muite Aroko" is featured prominently in the movie.  A major international hit, the song better known to the English-speaking world as "Sukiyaki" topped the Billboard charts for three weeks in 1963.  I sang the song to the school at my farewell assembly, half in Japanese, half in English - so, an obvious sentimental attachment for me there.

Here's one English version, by 4PM:



Sakamoto was from Kawasaki, another city in the Tokyo megalopolis, wedged between Yokohama and Tokyo - 1 million strong in its own right.  He died in 1985 at age 43 in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123, the second deadliest airplane accident in history with 520 dead and only 4 survivors.  I leave you with Kyu, in Japanese, with a literal translation of the lyrics:


19 comments:

  1. Goro Miyazaki's film's are always beautiful.

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    1. He learned from the best! Goro does not have his father's effortless knack for cinematic storytelling but he's getting better. Meanwhile, the visual element is already very strong.

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  2. What a beautiful song Squid. It's great that it's not the typical romance which is usually greatly simplified.

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    1. Thanks, Maurice! It is a sweet song - perhaps a little too sweet, but I love it for obvious sentimental reasons.

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  3. What a beautiful song Squid. It's great that it's not the typical romance which is usually greatly simplified.

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  4. Looks like an interesting move. I have never heard of it before.

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    1. It's fun. Have you seen any other Studio Ghibli films?

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  5. I haven't seen this one, yet; I'll have to add it to the list.

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    1. I enjoyed it. Not quite up to the level of his father's work yet but he's getting there.

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  6. It's always great to have a movie feature locations you know and love. Me, I've got That Thing You Do (Mercyhurst College) and Paul Blart, Mall Cop (Burlington Mall). Plus pretty much everything Stephen King has ever written, most notably 11/22/63 which features Lisbon, ME's famous Moxie Store and its loquacious proprietor, Frank Anicetti.

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    1. Absolutely agree. And now, I'll have "That Thing You Do" running through my head for the rest of the day...

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  7. I am so lucky in my little southwest desert town we have The Loft Independent Theater. We have had two Ghibli film festivals and they also showed Up On Poppy Hill on the big screen.
    When son when to visit family in Osaka he brought back the DVD for me. Happy happy happy.
    I enjoy the quiet love stories that are in Ghibli films, love of nature, family or falling in love.
    I especially like the everyday moments in this movie where she comes down to fix breakfast and dinner.
    The movie I just finished "Still Walking" starts with the cooking of dishes I really miss here in the states. It is the small everyday connections that get to me everytime.
    Japan makes a lot of "small" films, moments in time movies.
    Sometimes I feel sorry for Goro. He has lots of advantages but also no matter what he does people will compare.
    I loved this movie !
    Saw it twice in the theater and many times at home.
    Adore the club house dirt and all.

    cheers, parsnip


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    1. For Goro, Dad is surely more boon than curse. I mean, he could have gone into another profession...

      Have you ever seen Tampopo? That is easily my favorite Japanese foodie movie and, really, one of my favorite films overall. We just watched After Life this weekend - very nice.

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  8. Your review has made this a must-see movie. I'm putting it into my daughter's capable hands because she loves all things Japanese, she will make sure I see it.
    I loved both of the songs you put up there. The first one was beautiful and the second one was so catchy it makes me wonder if it was ever a hit in the US.

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    1. The first is, in fact, a cover of the second, though with English lyrics that don't match the literal translation.

      The original was #1 in the US for three weeks in 1963. Two cover versions have also charted in the top 10. The 4PM cover made it to #8. Disco/R&B duo A Taste of Honey took their version to #3.

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  9. Enjoyed your review of one of my favorite films. (Missing a star, tho ...)

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    1. I was VERY tempted to give it a 5, Suze. It just didn't feel quite right to do so. There are other Ghibli movies I prefere. A little closer to the right time period for me and it might have crossed the threshold. Consider it a high 4.

      Glad to have you back! I hope you had a restful hiatus.

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    2. I'm not technically back. Just popping in now and again to see what others are up to.

      You know I like givin' you a hard time on the 5-star contenders. I don't believe this is widely considered a 5-star film, it just held that quality for me, personally.

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    3. Well, it's nice of you to stop by...

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