Guess what: Today is Isao Takahata's birthday! What better day to review his latest film.
Apart from his 1988 masterpiece Grave of the Fireflies, the works of animator Isao Takahata have never had much exposure in North America. They may have less crossover appeal than other outputs from Studio Ghibli – the revered and beloved Tokyo-based anime company that brought us My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, among others – because his are less dazzling in a fantastical sense.
Apart from his 1988 masterpiece Grave of the Fireflies, the works of animator Isao Takahata have never had much exposure in North America. They may have less crossover appeal than other outputs from Studio Ghibli – the revered and beloved Tokyo-based anime company that brought us My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, among others – because his are less dazzling in a fantastical sense.
Nevertheless, Takahata has built a
superb resume over the last thirty years at Ghibli. So what a rare
and special treat it is then, to be able to see his latest (and
possibly last) feature in theatres: The somewhat slow but visually
splendid The Tale of Princess Kaguya. The narrative itself is
a simple one (perhaps too much so to justify this film's leisurely
140-minute runtime), but Takahata gleans from it several adult themes
about the pursuit of happiness, truth and artifice, and the cyclic
yet finite nature of life.
