Shinkai's Suzume shaking up all the feels
Watch an anime movie from Makoto Shinkai and expect to be transported. The stories may begin in a modern world so like our own but just a small shift and it’s really on a whole other level of fantastical fiction with a cautionary tale. A warning to open the eyes a bit wider to what’s surrounding us. Without care, it can all just go away. Or in SUZUME, it can all just go away and no one will know. Unless you’re one of the few who are gifted with the sight.
Synopsis:
Suzume’s journey begins in a quiet town in Kyushu (located in southwestern Japan) when she encounters a young man who tells her, “I’m looking for a door.” What Suzume finds is a single weathered door standing upright in the midst of ruins as though it was shielded from whatever catastrophe struck. Seemingly drawn by its power, Suzume reaches for the knob… Doors begin to open one after another all across Japan, unleashing destruction upon any who are near. Suzume must close these portals to prevent further disaster.
Review
After being thoroughly floored with viewing YOUR NAME in theaters in 2016, I became an instant fan of Skinkai’s work. I am such a fan that I didn’t even bother watching the trailer when I heard about SUZUME. Just went right into the theater ready to be wow’d.
Wow is too little of a descriptor. As the credits rolled a couple of hours later, it took a moment to settle all of the emotions within. It’s a been a couple of weeks since the North American premiere at the David Geffen Theater at The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures but the deep emotions is still felt strongly today.
On an initial level, SUZUME is a tale of a journey. Very similar to KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE, Suzume travels northward through Japan trying to save the world from a terror that most of the world cannot see. All the world feels is increasing earthquakes unknowingly leading quickly to complete destruction. As she scrambles to close the literal door on this terror, her friendship circle broadens along with learning about herself.
Right behind that level is a story of grief. Not just grief newly felt but the kind that has taken root for a long time. Grief is experienced in a myriad of ways and at different times. For Suzume, it’s dealing with the grief after pushing it aside for so long and acknowledging how it has influenced her and her decisions. When she was a young child, she lost her friends and family after the tsunami had decimated her village. The trauma of dealing with a catastrophic event along with the loss of her family has encouraged a fearless young woman ready to shirk it all to save everyone. The passion and desire to save everyone may be too strong as she neglects to see that it may hurt those close to her.
Weaving in among the levels is the ongoing thread of climate control and destruction. Just like YOUR NAME and WEATHERING WITH YOU, humans and nature are intertwined closely and can create a mixture that ca destroy them both. Yet even with the danger, hope and the strength of love are formidable aids to save everyone. What is most beautiful about about the strength of love is that it’s all kinds of love. Love of family, romance, life, or just of the un-explainable.
SUZUME floored me and the strangers in the theater around me. I was not the only one taking short breaths to keep the tears from falling. Yet as I glanced around, there were wide smiles on almost every face. The movie hits deep but in a meaningful and cathartic sense. So when the movie ends, I suggest you just remain in your seat, listen to another great song from the RADWIMPS play on as the words scroll, and just feel. Then remember how dang cute that Daijin was. All of the emotions will balance out.
Look to the skies…
YOUR NAME (2016) and WEATHERING WITH YOU (2019) were international phenomenons that stunned audiences to their core.From these movies, it didn’t take long for viewers to figure out that the most signature visual in Shinkai movies is the sky. Not just a bright blue slightly cloudy sky to be the background. No, Shinkai skies are not to be ignored, at all.
The sky is the formless and dynamic central character of all the films. In YOUR NAME, there were the meteor while rains never stopped falling in WEATHERING WITH YOU. The skies in these films were seemingly limitless as the bright, vibrant skies saturating each particle of the screen.
For SUZUME, the main characters must look to the sky for the next clue on where they should go to prevent the unseen force from destroying the whole planet.
Of course, the next signature visual key to a Shinkai film is falling through the sky. It’s a guarantee.
Overall….
GO WATCH IT.
Behind the scenes info:
About Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll, LLC is an independently operated joint venture between US-based Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Japan’s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., both subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.
Films distributed and marketed by Crunchyroll – domestically and internationally – have a proven track record of both box office and critical success. Crunchyroll’s theatrical team has been behind 10 of the Top 20 best-performing anime films in U.S. box office history, including JUJUTSU KAISEN 0. Not only have Crunchyroll films seen box office success, but have also been recognized with numerous awards accolades and been accepted and screened at international film festivals around the globe.
About Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. Sony Pictures Television operates dozens of wholly-owned or joint-venture production companies around the world. SPE’s Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, 3000 Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, Sony Pictures International Productions, and Sony Pictures Classics. For additional information, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html
About Wild Bunch International
Based in Paris, Wild Bunch International (“WBI”), is a world-renowned independent film sales company that secures distribution for over 30 films per year. Led by veteran film executive Vincent Maraval, WBI pioneered the independent foreign sales model as it exists today, cultivating relationships with the highest caliber of filmmakers and a brand that is recognized for critical and commercial success alike. Characterized by its diverse and innovative slate of films from all over the world, WBI's strength for the past decade has been investing not only in European local language box office hits such as The Artist, but also in English and foreign language films which have won countless awards - Spirited Away, Blue is the Warmest Color, The Wrestler, Shoplifters, Titane and Happening to name a few. In 2021, WBI partnered with Gebeka, a French distribution company, to create a specialty division dedicated to animation, Gebeka International.
About CoMix Wave Films
CoMix Wave Films (CWF), a Japanese animation studio and the production company for all of the Makoto Shinkai films. CWF began in creative contracting and currently engages in animated movie production, distribution and package sales as well as overseas sales. The company staffs each position with a small number of highly skilled people, hoping to create works that both fully display its creators' abilities and stand the test of time – its mission: to work with imaginative artists and deliver heartfelt works to the world.
About STORY inc.
STORY inc. is a film production company founded by Yoshihiro Furusawa and Genki Kawamura, the producers of the animated feature “Your Name.”.
STORY inc. develops and produces films with compelling story in association with Makoto Shinkai and CoMix Wave Films Inc., respectively the director and the production company of “Your Name.”, and other talented creators/productions. In addition to “Suzume”, STORY inc. is currently producing the Netflix series drama called “Maiko-sanchi no Makanai-san (The MAKANAI)” with director Hirokazu Kore-eda.
About TOHO Co., Ltd.
TOHO Company, Limited, is a Japanese entertainment studio focused on the development, production, exhibition, and distribution of powerful content for motion pictures, television, and theater. Founded in 1932, it remains a prominent force in bringing brands and original storytelling with versatile talents to audiences worldwide. Its subsidiaries include TOHO Cinemas, the highest grossing exhibition company in Japan.
