A collection of ideas from other works - doesn’t feel like a true contribution to the tale or even an interpretation. Contains lots of things I like but sadly doesn’t add up to much and feels hollow.
It’s also hellbent on making any subtext explicit, sometimes things are better left unsaid.
Kept thinking throughout how I would like to rewatch Coppola’s Dracula, a work which truly builds on the tale of Dracula and adds its own spin.
The scene when Shizuku sings Country Road whilst Seiji plays violin and his granddad and mates join brought a tear to my eye 🥹
I loved how the movie explored the difficulty to kickstarting your own creativity and how sometimes someone you love inspires you and also gives you the kick up the ass that you need! I also liked how it showed that learning a craft requires hard WORK. Add whimsical fantasy and a cat called Baron Humbert von Gikkingen to your hours spent grafting & you have art 😻
I found this movie pretty repulsive and not in a good way. A supposed exploration of a woman’s place in society where you have Bella who due to her specific set of circumstances (read: being a baby in a grown woman’s body) is ‘free’ from the shackles of polite, patriarchal society. What this exploration boils down to is watching Bella have rampant sex, all whilst having the brain age of a precocious 5 year old, and finding her true, realised…
Not a fan of the what felt like a tacked on ending - should have worked the colonial subject through the rest of the film more if it was going to go there. Loved the biographical childhood stuff, certainly captured those images that burn into your mind when you are young. Also great music and sounds, like the creaking of bamboo and rope swings.
