Three unbeatable arguments for the new fantasy film Suzume: First, a talking kitten with pure chaos burning in its little eyes. Second, a talking chair that takes you on an adventure across Japan and possibly into the realm of the dead. Third: Animated food that can’t speak but makes your mouth water.
If these arguments sound too superficial, you are either a dog owner or on intermittent fasting. Fortunately, the new film from Makoto Shinkai (Your Name, Weathering With You) also offers one multi-layered fantasy story centered around a monstrous menacewhich is rooted in Japanese reality.
The fantasy film sends a girl and a chair on a journey through Japan
It’s entirely possible that the most beautiful sky pictures in contemporary cinema come from the animated films by Makoto Shinkai. Boredom can happen on the ground, but if you look up into your skies, you can already sense the world and time-conquering magic of the story to come. This is also the case when the girl Suzume cycles through a coastal town in southern Japan.
Check out the trailer for Suzume:
Suzume no tojimari – Trailer 2 (English Subs) HD
As she climbs the hairpin bends on her way to school, it glows blue above her, promising, as if adventure is lurking around the next bend. Which then it does. Suzume meets a young man named Sōta, about whom she can only say one thing after the first meeting: How beautiful is he! Driven by curiosity (and not only curiosity), she follows him to an abandoned resort in the green hills, and, as can happen when the sky is so lush, she accidentally opens the door to another world .
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Soon the earth will tremble in the coastal town. Ejecting from the portal is a gigantic worm-like thing, a blind mass of energy that, when released, triggers earthquakes that could tear all of Japan in two. It’s Sōta’s job to prevent this from happening, but unfortunately, said talking kitten turns him into said chair.
Now Suzume has to prevent the next earthquakes. For this, she follows the kitten through Japan. So Suzume is a kind Road movie fantasy film about a young girl and the chair she fell in love with.
The fantasy journey is bursting with humor and impressive images
Raised by her overprotective aunt, Suzume happily embarks on this whimsical adventure. On the journey from one open door to the next, she meets people who are willing to help her and her strange chair. A young woman who transports juicy tangerines, another who runs a bar. They help Suzume in their own way, and their presences seem all the more lush compared to the abandoned schools and amusement parks where Suzume and Stuhl-Sōta seek the portals.
Suzume is a lighthearted film for the most part, drawing some humor from its bizarre road movie duo. Above all, however, fear lurks. What if the desolate emptiness of the deserted places encroaches on the surroundings? The steaming food, the apartments, their owners, they burst with vitality thanks to the animation. However, if the shapeless and characterless beast can free itself completely, it stands beauty of the ordinary on the game.
Therefore, in Suzume, fewer impress truly epic fantasy moments, when characters (and cats!) soar into the air. They are, without question, incredibly dynamically animated and take the audience on an action roller coaster that takes your breath away.
Make a better impression inconspicuous, warm imagesthat flank Suzume’s journey. Drunk older people grinning at each other over sake and music. Curious beaming toddlers discovering that the chair in their midst can speak. A young, incredibly handsome man on a summer’s day. You have to save her in Suzume. And this extraordinarily touching film commemorates many other faces whose lives were lost.
Suzume will be in German cinemas on April 13, 2023.