When Marnie Was There-A Captivating Animated Portrait of Adolescence and Relationships
Like many Studio Ghibli movies, When Marnie Was There contains a chill, relaxing, slice-of-life structure. But for most of the runtime, that structure works less to provide this comforting feeling, as in most Ghibli movies, but more as a way to reflect the melancholic emotions of its main character, Anna. The film lingers on beautiful shots of the Marsh countryside. But for most of the early section, there's a particular focus on the vast, open spaces of the Marsh landscapes, beautifully reflecting Anna's lost, lonely nature throughout these early parts of the film. Once Anna meets Marnie and forms her bond with her, the beauty of these landscapes starts to become increasingly apparent.
What makes this work is how well the film gets you to relate and empathize with Anna. You grow to know and understand Anna, her anxieties, and insecurities. It makes the film such a moving portrait of the adolescent experience, capturing so much of the negative emotions kids can sometimes feel, especially when dealing with a difficult upbringing, as Anna does. The film also captures the comfort of bonding with even a single human being, as Anna does with Marnie, which can alleviate those negative emotions.
It's hard discussing When Marnie Was There without mentioning the twist. Many may say the twist ruins the whole film, making the story too uncomfortable by the end. While I understand that perspective, I find that twist works wonderfully for the story. The supernatural side of the twist adds a profound tragedy to the story, as Anna finds her relationship with Marnie to be short-lived, like many childhood relationships. The film's final twist, as odd as it may be, still works as Anna realizes that her fondness for Marnie stemmed more from how she represented the warm, comforting emotions she'd bottled up for so long and less on who Marnie was as a person. By the end, learning the truth about Marnie, the true tragedy of her story, and seeing how closely Marnie's story matches with her own gives Anna the strength to move on, rekindle her broken relationships, and form new ones.
However, I found that the way the film wrapped up all of Anna's conflicts with the other characters in one single ending sequence wrapped things up way too neatly, in my opinion. Through this approach, many of those conflicts, such as Anna's relationship with her Aunt and the neighbor girl Noboku, feel like they get resolved too quickly. Many of these conflicts would've benefited from being wrapped up earlier in the film instead of being wrapped up cleanly in one sequence at the end.
The film may stumble at the end, but I still found When Marnie Was There to be such a beautiful film. As with many Ghibli movies, it's such a warm, comforting film whose animation captures the lovely stillness of nature. But what makes it stand out amongst Ghibli's other films is how well it captures the adolescent experience, the anxieties and insecurities that get alleviated through relationships that we form with others that are, sadly, short-lived.
Now Streaming on Max in the U.S
