|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
Only Yesterday
An endearing, poetic memoir 
Studio: Studio Ghibli Format: Movie Released: 7/20/1991 Written by: Face 
With the intimacy, and subtlety of any great novel Only Yesterday tells us the story of Taeko, a 27 year old woman, rediscovering herself through bittersweet memories of her childhood as she vacations in the country. Takahata Isao and Hayao Miyazaki teamed up to bring us this touching, melancholic memoir, and the classic traces of Ghibli magic couldn't be more apparent.
Only Yesterday is a story about Taeko, a working single woman in the middle of the commercial buzz of Tokyo. She's 27 years old, and "won't be young forever," her sister tells her. Just to get away from it all, she decides to vacation in the country with some relatives at their farm. Uncertain about her life, she begins to reminisce about her fifth grade school year, a time of childish vagaries and ambitions, and just how important they were. Through these recollections, Taeko comes to realize what's meaningful in her life, and how superfluously she lives hers. Despite being based on a manga, the style in which the movie would be told was still up in the air during the early production stages. The problem was that the original manga was written as a series of vignettes about Taeko's fifth grade self, excluding her adult self from the limelight. Takahata decided to structure the film with two different perspectives, and what a brilliant idea that turned out to be. The memoir ties the two together as the bygone years of Taeko's life provides the acumen needed to understand her present situation. Both generations of her life are portrayed with amazing realism, and astounding beauty. Take note of Takahata's use of silence and masterful manipulation of camera shots. Much like in Grave of the Fireflies, Takahata knows when time is needed for perception, and inhibited contemplation.  However, the undeniable driving force behind this movie is its ability to characterize humanity. Takahata doesn't draw upon cliches to construct the characters. Conversely, the characters are taken straight from the real world. Taeko, as a child, is just like every other child, a confused little girl filled with opposing mannerisms. She's self-seeking, adamant, and audacious, yet maintaining her free-willed outlooks, and ambitions. It's because of these beatnik tendencies that we are able to feel so attached and empathetic for her as she goes through one overbearing experience after another. We are shown what happened in her childhood to make her be so filled with feelings of benign resentment, and an all-consuming longing for untroubled stability in her life. Only Yesterday consummately shows us how Taeko struggles to determine whether she is meant to live the archetypical lifestyle she has known her whole life, or if perhaps there is something else out there she has yet to see. In the end, you feel for Taeko, you want her to find happiness; you just know it's out there, and hope she cherishes it with all her heart once she finds it. Some people claim that Only Yesterday takes the steady and slow path a bit too far on the slow side. Yet, it is this patience and keen use of restraint that makes this belated coming-of-age story so compelling. It's an absolute masterpiece all across the spectrum. There is no reason why you should not see this movie. Otaku to eager beginner, all will enjoy this Studio Ghibli classic. * * * * * (Excellent) Posted: January 2, 2004
|
||||||||||
