Suzume (2022)
This is Shinkai’s seventh feature film and is his third studio production after finding mainstream success with Your Name (2016) and Weathering with You (2019). It is undoubtedly Shinkai's most thematically ambitious to date, being a full on exploration of the effects 3/11 (the 2011 Tohoku earthquakes) had on a societal level. While his previous two films had allusions to the events through use of disaster imagery; this road trip fantasy adventure features locations that were affected by disaster and the recurring use of earthquake siren warnings really grounds the film in national trauma. Although very bold, with some exciting set pieces, nice humour and as usual stunning visuals, I felt the film was a bit of a mixed bag overall.
While the director has tried to explore bold new territory, it does seem like the Covid-19 pandemic and higher-up interference affected the film in some ways. While the visuals are beautiful as expected from the director, the CG implementation is hit and miss. There are times where it blends in so well you barely register it as CG, unfortunately there’s times where the use of CG can be distracting as some of it looks a bit unfinished. One key scene has some particularly distracting CG that takes you out of the moment. Faring better is the music by Radwimps and Kazuma Jinnouchi, which is top shelf. There’s some pretty nice use of chanting that felt somewhat reminiscent of the work of Keiichi Okabe and Kenji Kawai, and can be quite mood enhancing. One thing I noticed was the lack of music video-esque interludes, which felt much closer to Shinkai’s earlier work. Speaking of which, the straight up Ghibli inspired fantasy storyline felt reminiscent of Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011). Fans of Ghibli and Miyazaki’s work will appreciate some of the little references and nods, including the appearance of one song that had me smiling. In one scene, I noticed a nod to Horus: Prince of the Sun (1968), which, given all the other nods, in addition to a Toei Doga esque talking cat with Daijin, is more likely to be intentional.
I think what brings the film down for me is the pacing, which can be quite rushed. As a road trip adventure, the protagonist travels to different areas of Japan which are full of striking imagery and have been affected by 3/11 in some form or another. However, just the film starts to scratch the surface, the plot takes centre stage, which can make it somewhat difficult to invest in the characters. It also feel like while Shinkai tried to distance himself from the usual boy-meets-girl set up for the narrative, even stating in an interview that he wanted a sisterhood style story, the execs thought “isn’t that too early” and wanted something more familiar, though this does result in a lack of focus. His previous two films were able to balance plot and character in an effortless manner, while Suzume struggles in places. Although the lack of a romantic approach is not exactly a bad thing, and there are some nice character bonding moments, they are generally brief, which is a bit of a shame. It does feel as if there was probably a lot left on the cutting room floor, maybe it should’ve been a TV series or given a longer runtime.
I wouldn’t say Suzume is a bad film, it’s got great animation, beautiful music and explores ambitious concepts with some nice moments of humour that give it a real rollercoaster vibe. However the pacing and character writing does falter to some degree due to the emphasis on plot over character, which does make Suzume a little lacking in some areas. I think now is time for Shinkai to either go back to telling stories on a smaller scale or return to his indie roots to avoid studio interference. It’s a shame that we live in a world where a girl on chair story is easier to get made over a sapphic road trip film, imagine an anime style Thelma and Louise (1989)?
Maybe a rewatch will probably change my opinion on the film, however one thing that is entirely not an issue with the film itself that bothered me was the subtitle typesetting. When signs appear, they are displayed with brackets, however with italicised dialogue it’s a bit inconsistent, some does and some doesn’t, which can be a little distracting during scenes that were probably very hard hitting for the Japanese audience. It kind of makes me wish AL / Gkids were able to licence the film as their QC is generally at a higher standard compared to CR, though given Shinkai’s popularity and Sony’s monopoly it was likely unavoidable.
