R&A Presents: Kätkijät
Studio Ghibli’s charming family favourite tells the story of the friendship between a Borrower girl and a human boy.
Please note that the film does not have English dialogue or subtitles!
Studio Ghibli’s founders, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, are said to have first planned a film adaptation of The Borrowers as early as 40 years ago. Hiromasa Yonebayashi (b. 1973) is the youngest animator ever to be promoted to director at Studio Ghibli.
Yonebayashi joined Ghibli after seeing Whisper of the Heart and gradually took on increasingly demanding animation roles, starting with My Neighbors the Yamadas and Princess Mononoke, and continuing through the studio’s major productions of recent years, including Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Ponyo. On the latter, he was responsible for the exhilarating sequence in which little Ponyo runs across the waves. He is therefore a first-time director who is, at the same time, a seasoned veteran.
Hayao Miyazaki’s screenplay is based on Mary Norton’s novel The Borrowers, which is being reissued in Finnish to coincide with the film’s release. The story has been relocated from 1950s England to contemporary Japan. The setting is a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of a large city, strikingly reminiscent of Studio Ghibli’s home in Koganei, on the edge of Tokyo.
Young Arrietty lives with her family beneath the floorboards of the “human beans.” Upon turning fourteen, she is allowed to accompany her father on her first borrowing expedition. Arrietty meets Sho, a boy of normal size. According to the Borrowers’ first rule, they must never allow themselves to be seen by humans, but Arrietty cannot ignore her heart. A bond blossoms between the two young people, helping each of them better discover who they truly are.
This classic tale is filled with Ghibli magic. French musician Cécile Corbel composed the timeless score as well as the beautiful theme song, which she performs herself in both English and Japanese. The unusual scale of everyday objects and surroundings opens up amusing and thrilling perspectives within the story.
Mika Siltala, R&A 2011
PLEASE NOTE! We are testing a new ticketing system with our partner, which is why tickets will exceptionally be delivered in PDF format.