From Up On Poppy Hill

To my mind at least, there are two distinct types of Studio Ghibli film. Fantasy and realist. These will often intermingle, films like Kiki's delivery service are essentially about normal things with one strange additional element. But then you get the films that are full on fantasy epics like Princess Mononoke or completely stripped back Ozu-esque family dramas, like my personal favourite, Whisper of the Heart. Both styles have their places and we'll all have different opinions on the best Ghibli films. As this is my review however I should tell you now, I bloody love the realist camp, which Poppy Hill finds itself firmly settled in.  

In From Up On Poppy Hill, a young girl in a beautiful but vertigo inducing seaside town in Japan, hoists signal flags, it would appear, to the passing ships. When a boy at the school posts an anonymous poem in the school magazine about her flag raising habit she immediately suspects one boy in particular. Editor of the school paper and lead campaigner to save the Latin quarter, a club house for all the extracurricular activities that take place, that is to be demolished. The rest of the film follows these two as they campaign and develop a relationship with plenty of melodramatic turns.  

The film is set the year before the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and much of the film seems to be a commentary on Japan's attitude of erasing their past in favour of the future. The film has great standing in history and an awareness of reality that makes the events seem so much more important and valid. The plot is constantly engaging and reveals itself steadily never relying on twists or one strong element. It keeps adding and keeps moving not lingering on any moment for too long or too short a time.  

Most of the humour comes from the students of the Latin quarter as they all represent different academic groups in hilarious fashion. Over zealous philosophy major all on his own, the astronomy club who after years of extensive research have learnt nothing new, the journalists who are effortlessly cool and smooth with the ladies......................  

The relationship between the two leads is pretty much the sweetest thing I've ever seen. The film is relentlessly beautiful, and so is its soundtrack. Honestly I don't want to say much more because I just loved it. It plays out so perfectly that it seems almost effortless. Ghibli have this all down to a fine art now. They have no superiority complex, and they don't think their films need more explaining then they do for themselves. While Pixar get complacent and cocky and Dreamworks only live to grovel at our feet and shout the loudest, Ghibli are in the corner of the classroom quietly working away at a stack of Lego, creating something beautiful.