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Sunday, October 29, 2017

MAJO NO TAKKYÛBIN / KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989)

Bookended between the family warmth & formal compositional integrity of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO/’88 (John Ford might have chosen the camera set ups) and the energetic genre conventions & muscular escapades of daredevil fliers in PORCO ROSSO/’92 (Howard Hawks might have sketched the storyline), it’s easy to underestimate the charms of this less audacious teen coming-of-age puberty allegory. Heroes & heroines always seem to lose some magical power as trade-off to maturity (sexual & otherwise) in these things. (Its why Peter Pan refuses to grow up.) Here, master anime-tor Hayao Miyazaki, smoothly taking over a project about an adolescent high-flying witch-in-training, lets KiKi have her cake and eat it too, regaining lost powers in a spectacular climax with a runaway dirigible. As action tour-de-force, it’s only challenged by a wallapalooza ride on a bicycle fitted with an airplane propellor and a cute neighbor boyfriend to pedal, steer & hold on to. The rest of the film is gentler as KiKi & cat companion JiJi (wonderfully voiced in the English dub by Phil Hartman) find their place in the Old Euro-style town they’ve chosen: KiKi, with a special talent in airborne delivery; JiJi, with a lady cat on the next door roof; and Miyazaki, with a perfect pitch & rhythm for each episodic adventure. Be sure to watch the end credits which run over some exceptionally lovely cityscape scenes.

DOUBLE-BILL: Miyazaki certainly has a flying fetish, going up in all his films and then ending his career with THE WIND RISES/’13 about a airplane designer. (Maybe not ending! A new Miyazaki film, BORO THE CATERPILLAR, has recently been announced.)

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