Studio Ghibli is known for its animated films themed on environmentalism, family ties, mythology, and other positive aspects of human nature, spearheaded by Hayao Miyazaki.
The 2014 film Marnie Was There can be called an outlier among those. This film had a different theme, depicting the negative sides of human nature and overcoming them in mysterious ways. It was beautifully directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and was his second directed film.
The plot centres around Anna Sasaki, a twelve-year-old girl, suffering from morbid depression and loneliness who struggles to have her own identity. After being sick, her adoptive parents decide to send her to stay with one of their relatives during the summer vacation.
Even though there is a change in the air, Anna's mind, full of sadness, doesn't have any change.
She finds an abandoned old mansion shrouded in mystery in the wet marshlands where her relatives live. Coincidentally, Anna dreamt of this exact house where a blond-haired girl lived. One night, she witnesses her living in the mansion and is curious enough to meet her. The blond-haired girl introduces herself as Marnie, befriends Anna, and promises her never to tell anyone about their friendship.
The friendship soon becomes the key to Anna's healing. She learns to socialise and experiences happiness that she has been missing for a long time.
She also boldly helps Marnie overcome her fear, which is a big change in her personality.
However, things turn psychological when Anna occasionally sees Marnie missing, even though she has searched everywhere for her. The old marshland residents also say that Marnie was a girl they used to know long ago. So what was she? A spirit? Anna's imaginary friend? The plot thickens.
After a series of events, Anna finds a familiar connection with Marnie. This helps her to find closure in her search for an identity. At the end of the vacation, Anna becomes a changed person, accepting her adoptive parents and making many friends in an unknown place.
This wonderful film is about overcoming depression and learning forgiveness. Depression is a sensitive matter to depict on-screen, but director Yonebayashi masterfully showed ways to overcome it healthy, which is truly praiseworthy.
The film is also based on Joan G. Robinson's 1967 novel of the same name, and Yonebayashi stayed true to the original source, except in a different geographical setting.
When Marnie Was There is one of the most successful Studio Ghibli films not directed by Hayao Miyazaki. This film was nominated for the best-animated film at the 2015 Oscars, only losing to Inside Out.
Nevertheless, it's still considered Studio Ghibli's trademark feel-good film even though it explores the theme of sadness, which makes it worth watching even after eight years.
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