When Marnie Was There is a film in the Japanese animated genre that was released in the year 2014. The film was directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi with the world-famous Studio Ghibli producing it. The movie is about Anna Sasaki, a twelve-year-old girl who is introverted and lonely and finds it weird to identify herself. Anna is the protagonist in the film that is based on a novel of the same name written by Joan G. Robinson. The story unfolds in the calm but quite eerie settings of Hokkaido province, Japan, and encapsulates the bonding of friends and family and searching for one’s own self.
The story starts with Anna, a young girl who has long been displaced because she lives in the city with her foster parents who do not understand her. She suffers from asthma and stays with her relatives in a small and quiet neighborhood along the coastline in Hokkaido, hoping that the change in environment will help her condition. Anna’s foster mother Yoriko thinks that the move will be beneficial for Anna as it will help her balance her emotions too. Though as one would expect from a beautiful landscape, Anna does not fit in and would often avoid talking to people, instead choosing to draw.
Anna is fascinated by a familiar wooden house on the other side of the marsh. At that point, it appeared as though it was its undisputed owners last inhabited it. At that moment, she understands that this is no ordinary hovel. She recalls an image of a blonde girl mysteriously connected to the house, and becomes determined to find out the girl’s connection to the house. Hence why she returned to the same marsh every day in a futile attempt to look for the girl.
Marnie connects with Anna on a level that visibly surprises her. Over the course of her stay, she assists Anna do many unfamiliar things, and Anna also confounds many of her abilities. There was something ethereal about their relationship, so deep and loving. They didn’t reveal Anna’s secrets until Marny’s arrival, and even then, they were shrouded in mystery. During Marnie’s arrival, lavish parties, romantic rowboats, and dances at elegant balls thrilled Anna — scenes from a movie Anna had always longed for. Gradually, Anna’s emotional wall began to fracture, as long suppressed secrets and memories burst forth from within her.
But, as Anna and Marnie’s friendship grows, some peculiar discrepancies begin to crop up. Marnie seems to live in a different era, and her appearances are inconsistent as she often disappears shortly after she arrives. This situation raises a question for Anna: Is Marnie real? Or is she simply a character that Anna has conjured from her thoughts? Furthermore, villagers describe the people living in the huge mansion as something from history, which only thickens the mystery around the existence of Marnie.
As Anna gets more and more involved into her friendship with Marnie, she starts experiencing dark nightmares and also flashbacks which seem to indicate some memories she has never been conscious of. The sequence of events and the relationship with Marnie however makes Anna suspicious as she believes Marnie must be somehow related to her past. With every new piece of information that Anna obtains, the more she gets to the bottom of concealed realities about her personality and that of her family’s lineage.
The story deepens when Anna learns through an old diary and through the words of the grandmother and the villagers that Marnie was a real girl that lived in the mansion but now is long gone. Anna learns that her Marnie was her grandmother who was as starved of affection and love as her. This was the only mystery that Anna needed to be solved for her to feel comfortable. She comes to understand that Marnie’s ghost was longing to give her the power to make peace with her past.
Finally, Anna goes back to the city stronger and with better understanding of things. Her foster parent notices distinctiveness in Anna as she appears to be more sociable and more self-assured. This part of Anna’s self-discovery also ends with a realization, that family is a lot more than blood relations but it is about love.
Cast & Crew:
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi – A former Ghibli studio employee who also directed The Secret World of Arrietty. Yonebayashi’s style in When Marnie Was There is defined by a slower pace and lush imagery that evokes the eerie beauty of rural Hokkaido.
Producers: Toshio Suzuki – With a career that epitomizes their professional longevity within Studio Ghibli, Suzuki has overseen the production of several of the studio’s films, such as My Neighbor Totoro, and Spirited Away among others.
Main Voice Cast (Japanese):
Anna Sasaki – Voiced by Sara Takatsuki. Sara Takatsuki’s performance of Anna was able to embody the depiction of the character who is by nature and emotion a shy, reserved person who undergoes evolution and growth over time.
Marnie – Voiced by Kasumi Arimura. Aher voice does help add an element of mystery to the character. Marnie is simply enchanting while being a host of secrets.
Main Voice Cast (English Dub):
Anna Sasaki – Hailee Steinfeld. Again, contribution of Steinfelds voice acting is on point. Above all, this empowers the story about Anna herself and her emotional struggle Young audiences as well as adults are likely to relate as well.
Marnie: Kiernan Shipka. Shipka brings a captivating almost chilling depth to the breathy softness that Marnie possesses as a character. This again enhances the ethereal quality that is present within the film.
Screenwriters: Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Keiko Niwa, Masashi Ando- They converted the novel into a’real’ drama to center it in Japan although set in Hokkaido, which I believe offers a Japanese scope and mood for the narrative.
Music: Takatsugu Muramatsu – The music score fits the actions of the film early in developed with aesthetic elements. The music that materialized from her work is ethereal yet sobering and assist in guiding the senses to the supernatural and psychological domains of Anna’s journey.
IMDb Ratings and Critical Reception:
The overall reception for When Marnie Was There is quite positive, as evidenced by its IMDb rating of 7.7, which is again, not surprising given that it is widely considered to be one of the best films from both critics and audiences. The film was well received largely because of its visual and emotional appeal, and its delicate treatment of themes such as isolation, displacement, and quest for acceptance. Critics have emphasized how this film is somewhat different from the normal Ghibli movies, as it has a more psychological approach, more melancholic in pitch rather than fantastical which has been the vibe in more than a couple of their movies.
The animation did indeed receive rave reviews especially the great imagery of the landscapes of Hokkaido. The reviewers say that the pictures depict summer’s blue skies and sunny days when Anna issues from a taiga, but equally capture some of the pleasant but slightly frightening aspects of the marsh’s shadows, all of which beautifully fireworks up the character’s tilted anxiety. The filmmakers said that the movie’s pace was meditative and slow, which is accepted by many as appropriate for the deeply introspective nature of the story but has been pointed out as quite a problem for those who enjoy action or fast-paced stories.
The themes of friendship, self-exploration and family relationships are treated in a modest but effective manner in the film. Some of the viewers empathize with Anna particularly about her self-esteem issues and identity crisis when she believes that she does not belong anywhere in this world. This theme appeals to anyone who has felt loneliness or out of place, and it makes Anna’s story so easy to understand, and poignant and beautiful all at once.
Though When Marnie Was There already runs the risk of never reaching the revered status of masterpieces such as Spirited Away or My Neighbor Totoro, it can be considered an authentic addition to the portfolio of Studio Ghibli. It is acclaimed for having the guts to explore darker and highly nuanced aspects of feelings and for integrating naturalistic and fantastic storytelling when delineating the protagonist’s arc.
In the newer context of Ghibli’s oeuvre, When Marnie Was There is rather considered a fitting farewell for the studio as it was their last feature film on release after Hayao Miyazaki announced he was going on a self-imposed sabbatical. The film’s motifs of coming ro terms with past events, allowing the experience of love and achieving tranquility seem a special farewell to an era of Ghibli story-telling which will be etched in the hearts of its devotees for eternity and signified a new stage for the studio.
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