Posted by dballred on 01.12.2009, 04:32 AM:
quote: Originally posted by Kaikuri
Hello, as a new member to Ghibli Tavern I don't know the procedure for this but I wish to get your opinions upon a question I have formulated for my A-Level Media Case Study on World Cinema. Any answers are greatly appreciated =]
"How do Eastern animated films apply beliefs of their culture as well as their directors own beliefs, in comparison to Western animated films"
For this question I am focusing on Studio Ghibli in terms of Eastern, using Pom Poko, The Cat Returns and My Neighbour Totoro as examples, each with a different director.
Criticism of my question is also greatly welcomed as I don't know if I have worded it correctly.
Thank you in advance.
I think you can apply a simple question here: how would these stories been done if they had been done in the west?
Toward that end, I would rule out, on one hand, the Cat Returns as a valid candidate for contrast, as it has a theme and story line that could have been done identically in the west--with different settings, of course. While it might not do as a contrasting work, it would be excellent to show similarities.
My Neighbor Totoro, on another hand, would be a similar challenge for similar reasons--though the trappings if not the theme are Japanese. There are non-traditional concepts that aren't handled as they would have been handled in the Japan of fifty plus years ago. As unfair as it might seem to be, the neighbors and satsuki's schoolmates wouldn't have been so quick to accept a family that did not include a mother. The fact that she was in a sanitorium would have made no difference.
Pon Poko, on yet another hand (we must be dealing with a spider here), is a good target for contrast. The story does not progress nor end as western stories go. Nature does battle with man--and nature loses. However, the ending does not show the loss as a disaster but as something inevitable. The Tanuki need to adjust and the humans need to be aware of the consequences. From a western perspective, the ending does not provide closure.
As for a Miyazaki work that could show a contrast with western thought, you would be better served examining one of Miyazaki's other works, such as Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke. The former film fits into the mold of a Japanese fairy tale (Mukashi Banashi) and the latter, like Pon Poko, deals with the encroachment of man into nature.
Mukashi Banashi are nearly always morality plays whereby wicked behavior is punished and good behavior rewarded.
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