When Marnie Was There (2014)

Original title

思い出のマーニー

Directed by

Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Genre

drama film, mystery anime

Country

Japan

Runtime

1h 43m

Rated

PG

Rating

7.9 of 10 from 1,989 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A withdrawn girl named Anna goes to stay with relatives in a rural Hokkaido town. She befriends a mysterious girl named Marnie at an abandoned mansion, and their summer together helps Anna understand her past and her feelings about adoption.

gentlemelancholicmysteriousintrospectiveatmospherictenderslow-pacedbittersweet

What happens

When Marnie Was There (Japanese: 思い出のマーニー, Hepburn: Omoide no Mānī; lit. 'Marnie of [My] Memories') is a 2014 Japanese animated psychological drama film co-written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, produced by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho. It is based on Joan G. Robinson's 1967 novel When Marnie Was There. The film stars Sara Takatsuki, Kasumi Arimura, Hana Sugisaki, Hitomi Kuroki, and Ryoko Moriyama. In When Marnie Was There, Anna Sasaki stays with her relatives in a town in the Kushiro wetlands in Hokkaido. Anna comes across a nearby abandoned mansion, where she meets Marnie, a mysterious girl who asks her to promise to keep their secrets from everyone. As summer progresses, Anna spends more time with Marnie and learns the truth about her family and adoption. The film featured the final work for Studio Ghibli animator Makiko Futaki, who died in May 2016. It was also the final film that Yonebayashi directed for Ghibli before he left and joined Studio Ponoc. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, music, vocal performances, and emotional story. It was released in theaters on 19 July 2014, and on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on 18 March 2015. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Japan Academy Film Prize for Animation of the Year. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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