Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi [米林 宏昌], 2012, 91 minutes, Released on DVD 9th January 2012.
Review by Michael Sullivan
In 1952 The Borrowers was written by Mary Norton, since then it has been adapted for the screen several times in America and the UK. As recently as December 2011 a version of The Borrowers starring Stephen Fry was released by the BBC. The adaptation by Studio Ghibli marks a continuation of British themes in Japanese anime movies which began with Laputa [天空の城ラピュタ] in 1986, with its similarities to Jonathan Swift’s Laputa as described in Gulliver’s Travels, and other full adaptations such as Howl’s Moving Castle [ハウルの動く城] in 2004, which was based on Diana Wynne Jones’ book of the same name. Arrietty was the top grossing movie of Japan for 2010 and won Animation of the Year at the 34th Japan Academy Prize film awards.
Shō moves to the house of his great aunt Sadako to rest in preparation for an upcoming operation, upon arriving he notices a cat chasing something in the bushes and sees a Borrower, a 10cm 14 year old girl, Arrietty. Along with her parents, Arrietty lives underneath Sadako’s house and they make their living by ‘borrowing’ what they need. By this point in time two other Borrower families have either gone missing or left, and the family have not seen any others of their kind for a long time. When during the night Arrietty goes on her first borrowing expedition with her father to get sugar and tissue paper, she is startled to find Shō awake and watching her. He tells her not to be afraid, but they leave. Her father tells her that humans must never ever discover their existence. Despite this prohibition Arrietty seeks out Shō again and their friendship develops, however their friendship puts the little family’s home in danger and eventually they must decide whether to stay or head out into the wild.
Although on first appearances this appears to be a film aimed at kids, actually it is suitable for adults as well. The story is very gentle in comparison to previous Studio Ghibli movies, and slow paced, but this allows room for appreciation of the rich artistry of the animation. In one scene a doll house in Shō’s room is described as being made in England with attention to the smallest detail, and this equally reflects the impressive visual attention given to the scene by the film’s animators. The music was composed by French musician Cécile Corbel who also sang the movie’s theme song in Japanese, English, French, Italian and German. Originally she sent a fan letter to Studio Ghibli with a copy of her album and it was after hearing this that it was decided to invite her to work on the music for this film. Her music perfectly fits every scene and at times it is hard to decide which is more enchanting, the animation or the music.
The relationship between Shō and Arrietty is very touching and represents the meeting of two worlds, through their eyes we see that whether a person is little or big their heart is bigger than their size.
