negatively-positive-girl
Liked the sounds of the water, backgrounds and animation are both beautiful as always for Studio Ghibli. Not one of their best, but the mystery was enough to keep me engaged with the characters and watch it until the end. I'll even go so much as to say that it's one of their most underrated films.
JLRVancouver
"When Marnie Was There" is a strikingly beautiful animated feature from the renowned Studio Ghibli. Based on a British novel of the same name, the story follows Anna, a troubled teenager who finds friendship and ultimately revelation in Marnie, a mysterious young girl who seems to live both in Anna's world and in her dreams. Like all Ghibli productions, the animation is lush, detailed and fluid. The voice work in the English version I watched is good despite being somewhat flat and generic at times. I very much like Studio Ghibli movies but find in general that anime adds more to fantasy films (where it can make unreal real, such as "Howl's Moving Castle" or "Spirited Away") than it does to more 'realistic' films such as "When Marnie Was There". Despite that, and being both the wrong gender and decades away from the target audience, I really enjoyed, and would recommend, "When Marnie Was There".
Guy Jeffries
Hiromasa Yonebayashi director of Arrietty (2010) and one of Spirited Away's (2001) animators directs a typically stunning Studio Ghibli feature but might not be the ones Ghibli fans are use to, but don't let that disappoint. The film is refreshingly beautiful and soft to the eye. Based on Joan G. Robinson's modern essential classic novel of the same name. The story is moved from Norfolk, England to the Countryside of Japan without losing the core of the storyline. About a young girl Anna, who's socially an outsider, being an orphan and is sent to the country to rediscover herself. There, she makes new friends and one in particular is Marnie, the girl who lives in the supposedly derelict Marsh House. There's an instant bond but a haunting feeling behind it all. It's all a mystery and even though you think you might have guessed it, all is not what it seems. As expected, the animation is glorious with parallax scrolling and beautiful sceneries. However there's no wondrous weird characters that normally populate Studio Ghibli films. But there's still the lovable characters in human form such as the Oiwa's and Sayaka. Takatsugu Muramatsu composes the score but is sadly not quite the enchanting Joe Hisaishi some of us might expect but nevertheless it suits the film and sets the scenes nicely. There has been speculation that this might be the Studio's final film after the famed Hayao Miyazaki departure, retiring. There is a planned prolonged break while the studio decides what to do but there is nothing final about it closing down. This is a fine example of the animated features the studio can produce, an enchanting mystery that's emotional and heart-warming. A great film for all to watch, especially the kids but some might find it long, a little slow and doesn't have the usual magic Ghibli films have. Running Time: 7 The Cast: 8 Performance: 7 Direction: 9 Story: 8 Script: 8 Creativity: 7 Soundtrack: 7 Job Description: 5 The Extra Bonus Points: 066% 7/10
louissven
It is not very manly to say that but honestly I cried a bit while watching it. This movie is very good because the animations are astonishing, the music is very good and fit perfectly in the moment, the main characters feel true, and by that I mean they fit perfectly into their world, and the story is just perfect. BUT if you are going to watch this movie be prepared to feel like crap for 2 to 3 hours after watching it because it is not a light movie and you understand it in the first 30 minutes.Tl;Dr You must watch this movie at least once in your life but be prepared to feel like crap.
AD
