Director Suzume Makoto Shinkai explains how the works of Studio Ghibli exist within the reality of the film.
In a recent interview with Looper, Shinkai explained that Ghibli had a big influence on his decision to become an animation director. Because of this, he pays homage to the legendary studio by placing “homage” to the studio’s work in his own films, including the fantasy series created by the studio. director’s favorite, Suzume, opens in Japanese theaters on November 11, 2022. “… while Suzume was traveling in the car, [you can hear the] Kiki’s Delivery Service theme song, [Rouge Message],” Shinkai said. “It’s the same theme song that Kiki heard in the opening of Kiki’s Delivery Service.”
Although Shinkai admits to being a huge admirer of Studio Ghibli, this is not the only thing that motivates him to choose to reference the studio’s films in his works. Since Ghibli’s films are almost universally recognized and loved in Japan, Shinkai uses them to connect our reality with reality in his films. This effort has the effect of making the film’s tragic events have a greater impact on audiences.
How Shinkai connects his movies to reality
“When I put these Easter Eggs in the movie, what I wanted to do was make Suzume’s world almost [an} extension of our own reality.” Shinkai said. “Because we’re dealing with a very heavy theme, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which happened in real life, but it also happened in Suzume’s world. How do you bridge those two realities and bring them into the same context? I would argue most if not all of the Japanese population, and younger kids especially, saw Ghibli films. So they would’ve seen Kiki’s Delivery Service in the same way that in that film Suzume [has] watched that movie. Saying that Ghibli exists within Suzume’s world would bring her world closer to our reality and make that very understandable.”
Makoto Shinkai’s first feature-length animated project was the 2004 film, The Place Promised In Our Early Days. The success of this film has led to Shinkai writing and directing several other animated films, including Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011), Your Name (2016) and Weathering With You (2019). Suzume, the director’s most recent film, earned the equivalent of $13 million in its first three days in theaters in Japan, beating box office records set by Shinkai’s previous films, Your Name and Weathering With You set up. Suzume also ranks as the third highest-grossing Japanese film of 2022.
Suzume is available via Prime Video. Studio Ghibli’s movie library is available on HBO Max.
Source: Looper
