From ???@??? Thu Jan 28 18:41:41 1999
To: anime
From: Kiki
Subject: Wed anime: Omohide Poro Poro

Ooooo!  I have been *so* looking forward to showing this movie!  Dare I say it's my favorite Ghibli film??  It's a deep film, though.  So don't expect it to be simple...

nausicaa.net says:  "The film revolves around Taeko, a single woman working a desk job in Tokyo in 1982, taking a vacation in the countryside with the family of her sister's in-laws. During her vacation, Taeko finds herself looking back at her time as a young schoolgirl growing up in 1966. The film flips back and forth between the two time periods with a lot of nostalgia and beautiful country scenery as Taeko sorts out her flashbacks and tries to make some tough decisions about her future."

Also from nausicaa.net: "'Omohide' is the old spelling of 'Omoide' (Memories). It is still pronounced as 'oh-mo-ee-day'. 'Poroporo' is a word to express the way something (like teardrops or beans) are falling off one by one or trickling down. In this case, Taeko's memories have been trickling down to her."  In english, the title is "Only Yesterday" but I like the Japanese title much better. :)

As I call Kiki "a coming of age film for a 13-year-old girl", Omohide Poro Poro is "a coming of age film for a 27-year-old woman."  [Hmmm...why do I like this film so much?? :) ]  Though there are cultural elements, the emotions the young woman goes through mirror...well, at least *my* own feelings of trying to find my way through life in this corporate world.

This is directed by Isao Takahata [not Miyazaki] so it's more of an "adult" film -- not because it's offensive, but because it's a drama.  [Kids would probably be bored.]  Lush background artwork, esp. the memory scenes, where the background seems to fade away into white at the edges.  Wonderful music -- traditional European folk music.  Toshio [the young farmer] says, "It's peasent music from Hungary.  I like it because I'm a peasent too!"

I always cry. :) <sob sob>

It worked out great last time showing a TV show while we ate, so I'll show the next episode of Ranma 1/2 this time too.  [Ranma is dubbed, so it's easier to eat and watch.]

What: Omohide Poro Poro -- "Only Yesterday"
When: Wednesday, the 3rd, 6:30 eat, 7:30 movie
Where: Bugville -- the old Pixar building [email for directions]
How: Japanese with English narration

Don't forget those pizza orders!  By 4!  [Rachel has graciously offered to do the pizza run this week!]

Kiki

Here's a snippet of discussion I've been writing to a friend of mine about feminism.  [There's some spoilers]:

And this is what I like most about Omohide Poro Poro.  A film like that could never be made in an american context, because the feminists would be fighting over the pieces -- that her final choice was to be a farmer's wife, or that she wanted a handbag as a girl for instance.  Feminists would fight over the trees, and ignore the forest.

I've wondered why I see this movie as a strong feminist movie.  It has many elements which are considered "anti-feminist."  She chose a stereotypical position, giving up a high-status postion in a male corporate world -- why didn't I see it as giving up the Woman's Dream??

I like it because the character was strong and confident.  She grew and became a better person.  Basically, she attained fulfillment!

Yet, I worry about showing it to some of my female friends...I worry they'd criticise her decisions...

"...from elementary school, you'll go to high school.  From high school, you'll marry then have a baby."  And that in the end was the choice she took.

For Taiko, fulfillment was following her heart -- not necessarily having an "enviable job" in a male workplace.  And she, too, struggled with the idea of giving up her office job in Tokyo.

And the farm women told her, "even the women here have jobs in town."  This meant they understood the loss of status for a woman to give up a job and work on a farm.  I thought that comment was rather profound.  The women believed she held her Tokyo job for the status it gave her.

...

OPP for me is one of the most uplifting, women-strong movie I've seen.  I always feel better about being a *woman* after having seen it.

Kiki