Whisper Of The Heart Is For Creatives
Whisper of the Heart is a classic Studio Ghibli film that feels very close to me as a creative worker.
About This Movie:
After learning that all her library books were previously borrowed by the same person, schoolgirl Shizuku sets out to meet him and follow her dreams. (courtesy of Netflix)
Rambling Thoughts (i.e. The Review)
I can’t stop thinking about this film. I watched it during my birthday this year as part of a Studio Ghibli spree (watch out for Kiki’s Delivery Service, should be reviewing that next!), because the blurb above seemed sweet and nerdy like me.
Was I wrong? Nope, but I was surprised at how this film seemed to reflect the current life of a creative*.
*Note: When I say creative, I use this pretty loosely. This is Merriam Webster’s definition:
I am not an artist, or a dancer, or actor. I also don’t qualify myself as being ‘creative’ in that sense, but I do freelance marketing and writing for a living, which involves creating something interesting and different. That’s the definition I’m using here.
In 2020, we talk about burnout syndrome liberally. For a quick refresher, here’s what it is:
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.
In 1995, though, when this movie was released, this term wasn’t a thing. I mean, I haven’t confirmed this for sure, but the ongoing existence of Karoshi, or overwork in Japanese culture (and hustle culture as well!) seems to prove my point.
This film showcases how it feels to be in the throes of puppy love; that overwhelming urge to be like similar in order to show how much you like the other is a beautiful precursor to films like Our Times , another excellent teen film.
I have to say that the Netflix blurb for Whisper of the Heart is slightly inaccurate, though, as it sets up a classic rom-com. Of course, maybe we should have known, considering that Hayao Miyazaki himself wrote the script, that Shizuku’s coming-of-age would always, always be the main focus.
Shizuku, brimming with teenage passion and curiosity, does look for someone that shares her interest in books, but it never starts off as ‘finding a boyfriend’. Instead, it’s her discovery of an oddities shop (that’s apparently now a tourist location!) that kick starts a whole journey of self-discovery (yes I know I wrote discovery twice in this sentence).
She gets inspired, through teenage crushing, friendship, and more, to pursue her idea of writing a novel, and she gets obsessed. Like, “ probably would live in a secluded hut to finish it if she could “ obsessed.
If you’ve watched The Cat Returns, her story features the Baron, a, yes, Cat, who is part of a fantasy adventure unfolding in her story.
The direction (by Yoshifumi Kondō, who sadly passed away after in 1998) so delicately gives space to the process that is creating something new. There’s no belittling of her age or character, there’s just a lot of love and understanding. You can tell that the filmmakers poured a lot of love and affection themselves over this film.
But this doesn’t mean that the film is slow-going. Nope. In fact, the amount of plot points covered in 2 hours is impressive as hell. Her puppy love with the boy, an aspiring violin-maker, is cute as hell, with all the outlandish shit that comes with being young and in love (he proposes marriage out of nowhere, so yeah. Kids.)
Standout Moments
- Watching Shizuku’s family interact. Looking for a Japanese family that treats women’s labour as important? Want a family that is perfectly imperfect? Whisper of the Heart has one.
- These beautifully animated views!
- They sing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” about a hundred times. Luckily, I quite like the song! Here’s the end credits version below:
Overall Review (Yes, the Stars)
The realistic story, surrounded by beautiful elements and fantastical creatives, provides a classic Studio Ghibli movie in Whisper of the Heart. It makes you yearn to be a young teen again, complete with the crushes, school libraries, and more.
Also, it has extra meaning for me because her journey trying to finish her novel feels like…my life. So yeah.
Originally published at https://onereelatatime.org on June 21, 2020.
