Tonari no Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)

[cahiers_du_2006]

Someone in IMDb said something funny. They compared Miyazaki to Hitchcock. Apparently Miyazaki was a huge fan. The scene at the bus stop, they pointed out, is similar to the waiting scene in North By Northwest when James Stewart is waiting by the roadside. I think that one thing that Miyazaki took from Hitchcock is pacing. Your can't really

Comments

[emak_bakia]

Brilliant! You have such a way of explaining really complex ideas in such understandable terms......

I know what you mean about forcing an audience to invest in a space before branching out. I've always been interested in cinematic space and its relation to time, ever since I first saw Antonioni's L'aventura for the first time in film school. To me, those slow, spacially-based scenes are some of the most cinematic moments in all of film history.

[cahiers_du_2006]

I didn't see L'aventura but I felt the same way about The Passenger when it was re-released.

It's weird bcause the way Bazinian realism is explained it makes it sounds like you can't love Rome, Open City and Battleship Potemkin (to choose an extreme example) at the same time. Like you have to be realist or formalist.

Also in my younger days I foolishly dismissed Bazin for his Catholic, god-loving ways. But now I want to revisit his esays.

[emak_bakia]

Yeah, that's what eventually turned me off of Bazin. I love me some formalism! But I'll never be able to turn my back on realism, either. Extreme cinematic realism is just as radical as formalism. There's no reason why you should have to choose one or the other.

It's easy to dismiss the god-boys, isn't it? Not always the best course of action, but easy.

[nicelynicely]

[cahiers_du_2006]

Miazaki's mother had TB in the 40s. The film was a tribute to her.

[cahiers_du_2006]

hee hee - look at the leaf on his head!!