Back to my Ghibli rewatch! This is one of my faves and I think the story is lovely and the landscapes are beautiful. I love the cast of characters and the relationships between them. I watched this in the English dub and the performances are pitch perfect. Miyazaki's core themes of young friendship and self discovery still coming through strong from Nausicaa, Castle and Totoro. Plus his fascination with air travel.
I will say, I'm discovering through many viewings over…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Crackling performances, super sharp dialogue and a powerful premise, but story-wise this felt slight to me. I think the journey didn't move/ progress/ change the lead characters and maybe that made this more real and grounded, which usually works for me, but here it felt flat.
Performances, characterisation and style are all 5/5. Angelica Huston and Raul Julia are stone cold perfection. Story is I think 3/5 and so this isn't my favourite of the two. A nostalgic seasonal treat.
I'd never seen this before! I actually wasn't super taken in by the romance, but I thought the characters and their individual stories really shone. I would happily spend more time at Rick's. Inspired us to drink champagne cocktails on NYE...
