WHISPER OF THE HEART - 4 Stars
While people rave over PRINCESS MONONOKE and NAUSICAA, WHISPER OF THE HEART is a delightful little movie, always, gets overlooked. If it is remembered it is only for the very odd versions of the John Denver song, COUNTRY ROADS, that is an integral part of the story. This is a very very sweet tale about being young, being in love for the first time, finding the person and the future who fits you. It is a quiet fairy tale of the type that as a book worm appeals to me. But it is one, which in our modern world with technology creating distance in our every day lives, even as it pulls the entire world closer, would not happen today. The story is of a young girl probably about 16 years old, who wonders about a boy who reads the same books she does. Eventually they meet in an every day real world magic and realize they love each other. It is this relationship that helps the heroine to realize that what she wants to do with her life is write novels and gives Miyazaki the opportunity to mix the visuals from her story with the visuals of the real world. Both are breathtakingly beautiful and it is easy to see where she is getting her inspiration for her stories from. The only reason that this movie is 4 and not 5 stars is that just before the ending it drags a bit. Otherwise a lovely romance.
One funny thing about this movie is that most Japanese only know John Denver's song COUNTRY ROADS from this film. Many think that the song was written for the film and that John Denver heard it and recorded the English version. They do not realize that John Denver's version came first. Anyway there are at least 4 versions of the song, maybe 5 through out the movie?