Karigurashi no Arietty / The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) – 4/5

Minuscule movie magic

„Karigurashi no Arietty“ or „The Secret World of Arrietty“ (with two r’s there) or just „Arrietty“ is a Japanese animated movie from 2010, so this is already comfortably over a decade old now and this is of course another Studio Ghibli production. Maybe it is not among their most famous because Hayao Miyazaki is only a writer here and not a director, but I personally would say that it is one of their best and a bit on the underseen side. I had a chance to give it a watch yesterday at an open air cinema here in my city and I am really glad I went. Let’s look at the basics first: The director is Hiromasa Yonebayashi, a name that probably won’t ring familiar to too many, but he kept going after the success of this film here and managed an Oscar nomination a few years afterwards. Arrietty was his first directorial effort, but he has worked in smaller positions on a few films before that, also the really popular Princess Mononoke for example. He is not credited as a writer here. I already mentioned the legendary Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa is on board here too and not the only occasion she collaborated with Yonebayashi. The original story we have here is not from Asia as this is based on a novel by British children’s book author Mary Norton and it is also not the first time that her work The Borrowers was turned into a film or series. Before this one here, they usually went for live action though with the help of a great deal of special effects I suppose. I have not seen those, but what we have here is of course a totally different approach. When you see the characters interact with each other (and not with humans), then you do not perceive them as tiny. Anyway, Studio Ghibli was of course by 2010 already famous and loved enough that they would get big names from the American entertainment industry like Poehler, Arnett and Burnett on board. These latter two sound surprisingly familiar. Hannah Montana fans will also find a familiar name. But also with the Asian version, the cast is decent. For example there is an actress from Shoplifters here, Kirin Kiki, who is sadly no longer with us.

This is not a particularly long movie as it runs for slightly over 1.5 hours only and that already includes the closing credits too. They were very short in the version I watched though. Not a truly short film either though, the duration seems pretty much the way it should be. Accurate and they did not stretch it without a reason, even if I would have loved to see a bit more from all the characters in here, humans and non-humans. I think this is definitely one of the more kids-friendly films from Ghibli. One of the more harmless movies. You can see it on several occasions, for example with the main antagonist who explicitly states she does not want to kill the little humans, but just capture them and get them out of the house. Or look at the maybe most spectacular scene visually when the boy removes the Borrowers‘ home and reinstalls them somewhere else. That scene could have been a bit on the creepy side too from the earthquake perspective that destroys the family’s home, but the harmonic music that came with it made sure that the tension was not extreme there and look how it switches back to really harmless when we see the boy there although we surely it was all him and he only had good intentions. However, these contrasts also show that the Borrowers and humans are not meant to live together. This is also emphasized by the fact that the former do leave the place in the end. They surely also could have taken the route for the little people to live inside that dollhouse in the end, live together with humans, but they are no dolls. They are much more. So the ending is promising, but not super happy. That is really good though because it does not try to be. Same applies if you look at the boy’s medical condition. The film could have ended after the surgery and shown us that he was alright, but we do not find out about that. We will never know. All we do know is that he found a great new friend there at his grandma’s house, which maybe kept him a bit from the relaxation he was supposed to find there, but still broought a valuable experience and who knows, maybe they will find each other again someday, even if the farewell scene looked pretty definite. So heartfelt how she expressed her gratitude.

I mean, on a total absurd note, they even could have come up with some indicated romance story line there, but this was never in the books and I mean that literally as I am sure the original writer also did not include any references there. The only moment is pretty much when the boy says how beautiful the protagonist is, but this was also more like in a sense that he was amazed how perfect such little creatures may look. So much attention to detail there. Of course, I can extend this compliment to the filmmakers here too. On a side note, I was wondering if the main character’s name sounding so similar to the little mermaid was a coincidence. I mean they both live in worlds of their own, kinda hidden away from humankind, even if here it quickly goes all kinds of wrong. The scene in which the boy spots the girl for the first time was surely a bit haunting. There the differences in size were included in a really memorable way with how they depicted this scene. The sugar cube references I liked as well. There was so much that was so nice. Look at the item the girl wears in her hair. Look at how her first item, the little needle, becomes a sword for her pretty much, look at the scene in which they have tea and the mother pours only one drop (well, one drop from the human perspective) to fill a cup. Or look at the „boat“ they use at the very end. So cool and creative. I am not sure to what extent these inclusions were already like this in the novel, but in any case, even if they were, the filmmaker(s) here depicted them so nicely overall. As a reference back to the romance aspect I mentioned earlier, there is also something indicated in the end that the little Neanderthal boy could actually turn into a love interest. In any case, he seems to like the protagonist and the berry scene was fairly cute too there and nice closure. We can only speculate where the little people are going now, where they will find a new home and also if there are more that are like them and what they will look like. The idea of moving away was presented like a nightmare throughout the film, as the worst case scenario, but in the end it is not bad at all and offers all kinds of hope.

One moment I really liked was the wood louse scene. It was very short, but so funny how she used it as some kind of ball. Animals play a big role here. You could say that rats/mice are not exactly loved by the little people it seems, but crows are even worse. However, with most of the insects they seem to have a good connection. Also the fish in the end. The cat is a double-edged sword. It seems like an antagonist because it wanted to eat the main character, but then even becomes a friend towards the end who makes sure the two main characters can see each other again before the girl departs. Okay, that was a bit much maybe, how the girl was not scared of the cat at all with what their previous interactions looked like and also that the cat’s instinct to eat her was totally gone, but okay I take it. It was depicted really nicely too how the cat behaves in that scene with the girl when it’s just the two of them. And I kinda liked the cat too, already from the very start. How the girl kindly waves at her and the feline has other things in mind with her paw. If you look at it this way, there are no real villains. It is always instinct, for the cat, the insect that attacks the girl early on as well and also the crow. Even the housekeeper is really only doing her job and being diligent and she is also not punished severely in the end, just a bit made fun of. As for the boy’s grandmother, she does not get too much screen time, but is another worthy addition. It was sweet how her dream was fulfilled that she could find out the little people really existed because it clearly meant a lot to her with her family background.

As for the little family, it was kinda cute to see how they were facing the same struggles like everybody else, missing ingredients or meals, children’s rooms not being in the very best shape and mother not too happy about it, being forced to move places because of external circumstances etc. By the way, „borrowers“ may not be entirely accurate right? Because they do steal stuff, even if it is just items that nobody really realizes ends up missing, but they don’t give them back or something. Just being too pettifogging here maybe, but it’s the title after all. Still they are really likable the little family. I am also curious about what happened to the other family back in the day that vanished somehow. Quite a mystery. Those could get their own film I suppose. We do not get a solution, but that also makes sense. No need to fix everything. This is a very beautiful film overall and deserves to be seen at least once unless you really strongly dislike animation/anime. I think it also has a lot to offer on rewatch for sure and I am eager to give it another go at some point. It’s still more beautiful on the big screen as almost always, so if you get the chance to see it at some anime film festival, then don’t miss out. Luckily, it is far from forgotten. There are many beautiful scenes, also when the boy talks to the girl and she is behind the blind, even if I wondered why he can understand her voice. I mean it must have been really squeaky or so in reality. But let’s keep reality out for now, even if this is among the less magic-focused Ghibli films. No magic wands or anything here, no big effects, just a parallel society if you want to call it that. Dive into its wonderful little world. One of my favorite films from 2010 and a definite contender for favorite animated film from 2010 for me.