Anime’s certainly gotten pretty big in India. Years ago, you had to scour every pirate site for a glimpse of a half-decent print of the latest animated feature or episode. Now, we’re getting theatrical releases of One Piece: Red, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, and of course, Makoto Shinkai’s latest feature, “Suzume”.
If you were living under a rock, Shinkai is Japanese animation’s latest prodigy with his most famous work being “Your Name”. How famous is it? J.J. Abrams is going to botch its legacy with a live-action American remake, that’s how famous it is. Some consider him to be a successor to Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli’s legendary director. The fact that his movie got a theatrical release in India at all is a big enough deal.
Now if you’ve seen “Your Name” or “Weathering With You”, you might expect “Suzume” to be a love story. There is an element of romance in the movie. While it’s not on the same level as Taki & Mitsuha’s love story, the relationship between the leads is well written. “Suzume” isn’t a pure love story.
So, what is “Suzume” about?
Suzume tells the story of Suzume Iwato, a 17-year-old high schooler who doesn’t remember certain elements of her past. She chances upon a stranger named Souta who asks for directions to a door in a ruined place. Suzume goes to the place herself and gets roped into a situation where she has to save Japan from getting destroyed by an ancient force capable of devastating earthquakes.
If I had to give Suzume a genre description, I’d say “supernatural road movie” fits the bill. While Shinkai’s movies have had a supernatural or mystical element to them, they’re mostly grounded stories. This movie on the other hand was Shinkai trying to do a Studio Ghibli movie. I’d say he mostly succeeds. You’re not going to get a Totoro or Princess Mononoke with this, but considering Shinkai’s usually grounded fantasy output, Suzume feels like a step above his usual output with his focus on mythology and the supernatural.
One of the main criticisms of Makoto Shinkai’s movies is that he repeats certain story elements and thematic devices across his movies. Lovers separated by time, space or the supernatural. Characters going to lengths unforeseen to save their loved ones etc. Suzume does have those as well. It wasn’t a dealbreaker, but you might tend to notice those elements if you’ve seen his movies.
Look, it’s a Makoto Shinkai movie. The animation being absolutely gorgeous is a given.
The man continues to make audiences gawk in shock and awe over how beautifully animated his movies are. A girl near me was going “Whoa!” every time the movie focused on a gorgeously rendered water body. (She also vowed to watch anime towards the end of the movie….Nice). Of course, Shinkai continues the proud Japanese tradition of spending a considerable amount of the movie’s budget towards gorgeously animating Japanese food and making the audience salivate in hunger. Shinkai’s musical collaborator Radwimps, along with composer Kazuma Jinnouchi, craft a hauntingly beautiful score that elevates the movie on the whole
If I had to make a criticism, the design for the supernatural forces feel….bland. They’re not bad, but they could have used a bit more creative flair.
I had already told that Suzume wasn’t a romance movie. Considering all the supernatural elements in play, is it a Studio Ghibli type fantasy movie? Not really that either.
Suzume is a movie about two themes.
With all the focus on earthquakes, one part of Suzume reminded me of Hideaki Anno’s “Shin Godzilla“. Both movies used ancient forces as metaphors for the disasters wrought upon Japan. Shin Godzilla used Godzilla to make criticisms about the Japanese government’s response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Shinkai on the other hand uses the 2011 Tohoku earthquake to make points about natural disasters and the personal traumas the survivors have to live with. You can tell that this movie is personal for Shinkai. While the movie is enjoyable enough without this subtext, getting to know it provides the movie a new depth and emotion.
The second theme of Suzume?
Closure.
Ultimately, the story of Suzume is a story of trauma, closure, acceptance and finding the strength to move on in this cruel world. Shinkai’s stories have always been at their strongest when it’s just about humans grappling with the complexity of their emotions. Behind all the supernatural elements, the romance and the mythology is a story about a girl who still hasn’t gotten closure for her wounds. The climax had some of the audience shedding tears. I’m not ashamed to admit that I too cried a bit towards the end.
Suzume is a beautifully written, gorgeously animated movie that deserves a watch on the big screen. Several animation fans were asking what the state of Japanese animation would be after Hayao Miyazaki’s departure. Seeing this new generation of filmmakers, I’d say it’s in good hands.