MIFF Review - MAI MAI MIRACLE

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Score:  3/5
Language: Japanese (english subs)
Genre: Childrens
Summary: (from MIFF)

Sunao Katabuchi | Japan | 110 mins

"As beautifully illustrated as a Monet landscape painting." – Hollywood Reporter
Adapted from Nobuko Takagi's autobiographical novel about growing up in rural post-war Japan, Mai Mai Miracle is a stunningly rendered animation very much in the tradition of the celebrated work of Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle).
Running through wheat fields and chasing make-believe creatures, tomboy Shinko daily conjures up the majesty of feudal Japan in her imagination, venturing into a world as real to her as her own. When nine-year-old Kiiko moves to town from bustling Tokyo she stands out like a sore thumb – but it isn't long before Shinko enlists the new girl in an epic adventure.
MIFF Recommends: Age 8+
Some adult themes
D/S Sunao Katabuchi P Tomohiko Iwase, Miho Ichii, Ryoichiro Matsuo WS Shochiku L Japanese w/English subtitles TD 35mm/2009

Comments: Part of MIFF's Next Gen series where they have films for a younger audience. About 2/3rds of the cinema were school children. I don't recall any noise coming from them so they seemed to enjoy it. The film to me was about friendship, dreaming/imagining and life moving on/changing. From an adult perspective, while the film is not in the league of Pixar or Miyazaki's works story wise (I found it a bit slow at the beginning) I did laugh a few times and left the  cinema with a smile. While not a comedy the film did have funny moments. Visually, as MIFF notes, on par with Miyazaki's works