Club Ghibli #19 - My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)

[Diddy]

No, it's not THAT movie - did you think I was going to spunk away two of the biggest movies back to back? No, this is something totally different, and sadly the final dip into the eclectic catalogue of Isao Takahata.

"My Neighbours the Yamadas", or "ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん (lit. *bird noise* My Neighbours the Yamadas) is ... is it even a film? It's more of a comic-strip compilation than anything, but a charming window into a Simpsons-esque family's life and history. Although the watercolour comic art style is a lot less rich than something like Mononoke, it's somehow the first fully digital Ghibli movie.

I don't know what to say about it, it's a fun watch, it's not the sort of grand sweeping storyline we've come to expect from Ghibli, and it hasn't set RottenTomatoes on fire the same way most of Takahata's formidable canon have, but I like it a lot.

I hope you understand me

David x



HOW THIS WORKS

In a semi book club format, the films will be announced, and over the course of about 2 weeks we can watch it and let everyone know what we thought. We are in the last third of the movies now, so I have decided to curate the last run and not pick the last big ones too soon - we've been really restrained I think so far, so thank you!

I was thinking 2 weeks should be enough time for most people to fit in a viewing at some point, but it's not strict so please come back when you have a chance, no pressure!
@Christian @Gangsta Nancy Lam @jivafox @COB @Haiku @ZenGiraffe @Lucille @KindaCool @Eyes @Queen of the Bay @RaspberrySwirl @RJN @Beverley @big ron @ButterTart @Mats (let me know if you don't want to be tagged any more)

 

[Marina Salty]

This is the one I've been waiting the most and I've got a train ride to the village in a few minutes, the timing is ideal, am downloading it ASAP.

 

[Diddy]

This is the one I've been waiting the most and I've got a train ride to the village in a few minutes, the timing is ideal, am downloading it ASAP.

Ooh maybe we won’t take 2 weeks for this one you and I always leave it to the last minute!

(Except I watched all of them so far so… )

 

[Marina Salty]

Watched half of this cause I felt asleep in my seat, so we're probably back to 2 weeks but so far it's very different to what I'd thought it would be.

 

[Diddy]

Watched half of this cause I felt asleep in my seat, so we're probably back to 2 weeks but so far it's very different to what I'd thought it would be.

It’s probably the film that doesn’t really matter if you watch it in parts

Very different to the movie you really wanted to see? Sounds worrying

 

[Marina Salty]

Omg earthquake, the minute I read this
Diddy you need to learn how to control your powers

 

[Marina Salty]

Am alright, just a 5.2. I think part of what felt awkward while watching was the dubbing. It kind of makes it very not Japanese if it makes sense?

 

[Diddy]

Am alright, just a 5.2. I think part of what felt awkward while watching was the dubbing. It kind of makes it very not Japanese if it makes sense?

Yeah that’s why I’m a sub queen (in many ways). I didn’t like Arrietty in the cinema because it felt so weird having the British voices on such a Japanese-looking movie (based on a British story, but hey)

Some of the dubs are rotted too

 

[Marina Salty]

Also the minimalism in animation is very unusual for ghibli, and while it strikes you at first, it fits the story telling and it's cute so you don't mind it after the first minutes.

 

[Marina Salty]

Finished this, can't give a vote though cause am not sure how I feel yet. Almost everything about it was very relatable and for the most part if you changed what they were eating and where they were sitting, it could be a jewish, italian or any other Mediterranean family satire coming from the States. Are the Japanese really so similar? Or was this film made for the US market? At some point the dad wants to bond with the son by playing baseball? I mean really? They have a history of like i don't know how many millenia and the dad choses to bond with the son like he's Homer Simpson?

 

[Diddy]

Finished this, can't give a vote though cause am not sure how I feel yet. Almost everything about it was very relatable and for the most part if you changed what they were eating and where they were sitting, it could be a jewish, italian or any other Mediterranean family satire coming from the States. Are the Japanese really so similar? Or was this film made for the US market? At some point the dad wants to bond with the son by playing baseball? I mean really? They have a history of like i don't know how many millenia and the dad choses to bond with the son like he's Homer Simpson?

No vote, @Queen of the Bay is HUNG

Baseball and playing catch are fairly typical here though, it’s like the No.1 sport

 

[Diddy]

After this we only have 3 movies left

 

[Marina Salty]

I didn't know but it still feels overall too american. Take the grandmother out and replace her with Yetta from Nanny Fine and it still works.

Edit: Went through the imdb comments and there's a mix of people who comment on the relatability and universality of family dynamics shown and people who didn't identify at all. Curious to see what the rest of you think.

 

[Diddy]

Btw is anyone else going to watch this?
@Eyes @Haiku @Lucille @Christian @Peekaboo

Or is it just me and dear sister @Queen of the Bay ?

If not then I’ll start a new thread this weekend because I’m about to watch it.

No votes

 

[Marina Salty]

A 7, I was too harsh with it.

 

[Peekaboo]

I thought this was a curio and I don't remember anything about it besides a trip to the mall that goes wrong. I'm sure there are some RICHES to be found but it just didn't grab me. SORRY. One of the lesser Ghiblis for me.

 

[Marina Salty]

The mall visit and what followed was my favourite bit

 

[Diddy]

OK well I liked it. I get that it's an oddity in the canon - mind you what does that even mean, there are plenty of singular works in the list - but I've always liked the comic-strip style animation. Of course this does come at the cost of a narrative, it felt more like a clips show for a series I've never seen, albeit with the overarching theme about how to survive life's struggles of marriage and having a family. In the latter sense it was a win, I felt a lot of heart in the characters in a way that reminded me of early years Simpsons.

Considering most of the family are lazy and/or selfish, they are still very likeable and well fleshed-out. Some of the humour might be a bit lost in translation, but for the most part the family themes are universal. Although for me, my family was nothing like that really, so on some level I'll never quite understand the specific situation, but that's just bad luck.

I really liked the animation style too, I felt it was subtly quite complex despite a lot of the background being quite sketchbook and simple. I didn't feel like I was watching a totally digitally-produced animation, and the variations in styles had meaning. Like the strikingly more realistic scenes with the biker gang against the more cartoonish hijinks in the rest of the movie. And how it got so much more colourful in the last scene with the song.

Weirdly, you can almost see this as a direct throughline to Princess Kaguya 14 years later, Takahata was more open to experimenting with digital media and also the varied art-styles really aren't that far away from this movie - it's just bizarre that they couldn't be more different movies tonally.

It might not have the same impact as when all Japanese home culture was alien to me, but I still feel very fond of it.

 

[Diddy]

3 movies left, and I know what's next

 

[Eyes]

ahhh well, I've been watching parts of it in my spare time for a few days, and that it took me so long to finish is telling in a way. I know many anime about daily lives that are better with clip shows or stories than this. They're a family that is so normal that rather than what normally grabs me about that, the delightful mundanity of daily life, there's too much of it, such that it goes right out the other side to a feeling that this is all so mundane it's the sort of situations you don't want to end up in and aren't that interesting to watch.

There were a few moments that raised a smile - the grandmother is charming with her age giving her wisdom at times and impulsiveness at others, the young girl taking the rest of her family getting lost in stride, the family meeting in the rain was cute. Some good moments, but lots of dull ones to go through (I swear there were at least 3 separate scenes about arguing over what to eat if not more - is that an accurate representation of normal life? yes. do I want to see it in film? not really).

I can see the links to the later Princess Kaguya in style, and this isn't an attack on the style, it works for what it's doing and there were parts where it looked excellent. Also, even (if only as a coincidence) early in the film there was a couple of scenes that made reference to the legend what with the daughter being found in bamboo again which was cool. Very traditional family outing, for all that entails.