When Marnie Was There

PG 7.6
2015 1 hr 43 min Animation , Drama

Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.

  • Cast:
    Sara Takatsuki , Kasumi Arimura , Nanako Matsushima , Susumu Terajima , Toshie Negishi , Ryoko Moriyama , Kazuko Yoshiyuki

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Reviews

Alicia
2015/05/22

I love this movie so much

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Cortechba
2015/05/23

Overrated

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Spidersecu
2015/05/24

Don't Believe the Hype

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Siflutter
2015/05/25

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

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phoenix 2
2015/05/26

Obviously I'm one of the few who weren't impressed by this movie. It wasn't that it lacked the fantasy, magical effect; on the contrary, it was quite enjoyable, with the beautiful landscapes and the detailed scenes. However, the story kind of dragged on. I guess it's is mainly me that was bothered by that and in general, this movie is quite good. The story is interesting, though it gets confusing with the way the relationship between the two girls is developed and the fact that Anna, although agreeing that there is something "fishy" about Marnie, on the very next scene she continues on like nothing has happened. Towards the end, things get way too obvious, but at least the ending was good and satisfying, as it didn't left any case unsolved and every story got a happy closure. So, 4 out of 10.

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Jackson Booth-Millard
2015/05/27

I found out about this Japanese cartoon movie, from Studio Ghibli, mainly because of its inclusion in the Oscar nominations, I was always going to watch this, both to see if I agree with this accolade, and as a fan of many films from the studio. Basically shy 12-year-old Anna Sasaki (Hailee Steinfeld) lives with her foster parents, Yoriko (Geena Davis) and her husband, in Sapporo, she is distant and unhappy, for health reasons she is sent to spend the summer with Yoriko's relatives, Setsu (Grey Griffin) and Kiyomasa Oiwa (John C. Reilly), in a rural seaside town. While there, Anna is fascinated by an abandoned mansion, dilapidated and overgrown, across the marsh, she wonders why it seems familiar to her, it has been empty for a long time, but Anna has visions of the house looking well and people residing in it. One night, following an argument, Anna runs away, she finds a boat and rows across to the mansion, there she is greeted by beautiful, good-natured blonde girl Marnie (Kiernan Shipka), Anna tells her about her dreams, but Marnie assures her she is not dreaming now, they agree to keep meeting in secret, but the next day, when Anna plans to see Marnie, the mansion has returned to its abandoned and dilapidated state. A week later, while sketching, Anna meets older woman Hisako (Vanessa Williams) who paints pictures of the mansion and marsh, she comments that Anna's sketches look like a girl she used to know when she was young, and she used to live in the mansion, which is being renovated for someone moving in. Anna returns to the mansion, she meets a girl named Sayaka (Ava Acres), she discovers Marnie's diary in a drawer, it includes text about a party Anna may have been part of, several pages of the diary are missing. The next day, Marnie reappears and talks to Anna about her parents always travelling abroad, her nanny and two maids and their physical and psychological abuse, Anna wants to help her confront her fear of the silo, where she used to be threatened of being locked in, Anna falls asleep, and is upset to find Marnie has abandoned her in the silo. Meanwhile, Sayaka and her brother finds the missing diary pages, including mention of the silo, they find Anna there in a feverish state, during which she dreams of confronting Marnie, who apologises for leaving her, and telling her she can no longer see her, Marnie begs Anna for forgiveness, Anna vows to remember Marnie as she is swept away by the tide. Anna recovers from her fever, Sayaka shows her the missing pages and a painting Hisako gave to Marnie, Hisako tells them Marnie's story. Marnie married Kazuhiko, who died from an illness, they had a daughter named Emily, Marnie was committed to a psychiatric hospital and Emily was sent to boarding school, when Marnie was released Emily was upset for her abandoning her, she ran away and had a daughter of her own, she and her husband were killed in a car accident, Marnie raised her granddaughter until her death, the girl was put in foster care. It is the end of summer, Yoriko is taking Anna home, she gives Anna a photograph of the mansion that belonged to her grandmother, she realises she is the daughter of Emily and Marnie's granddaughter, this revelation brings Anna closure of her identity, she bids her friends of the town goodbye, and sees the mansion and Marnie one last time as she is taken back home. Also starring Catherine O'Hara as the Elderly Lady, Ellen Burstyn as Nanny and Kathy Bates as Mrs. Kadoya. The cast dubbing the voices into English are all chosen well, it is a fairly simple story of a pubescent tomboy girl unknowingly going back in time to meet the younger version of her relative, it is perhaps more realistic than previous films from the studio, no magical and fantasy elements as such, it hasn't got quite the same charm as these other films, but the animation is fantastic, overall its not a bad animated drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Worth watching!

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kevinxip
2015/05/28

This is one of Ghibli's most beautiful movie. Knowing other's childhood story is interesting and Ghibli did it beautifully. I don't read the original story, but its sure a good story made by Joan G. Robinson. To transform a foreign story and mixed it with local culture, this is a good example of solving the race problem for audience to relate. Some other movie just adapt a story from foreign country and use local actors to replace their original name, even completely killing the character like we found in The last airbender and hopefully not for Ghost in shell. From now on, Marnie is a part of my life that i'll never forget, even though she's just a fictional character. Ghibli made this character so unforgettable with her strong character. His childhood is really sad, when we know even the maid bully her and she rarely met her parents. This made a link between her and audience, we really felt sorry for this girl and so sad even more when we have told the complete story, her old days are even sadder.

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CraigsCritique
2015/05/29

Well the latest entry from Studio Ghibli was an interesting watch, it's not quite as emotionally taxing as say From Up on Poppy Hill or The Wind Rises are & it's not going into the ridiculously wonderful & whimsical vibrant worlds of say Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, it is a film of small personal drama that at the heart of it is a story of a young girl troubled with loneliness & a feeling that the world around her is not accepting her...that can be oh so relatable, just from the simple feeling of opening up only to get hurt in the process therefore further isolating herself, sound familiar? The one thing you do get from the film is something that is very prominent in many Ghibli films and that is the convincing portrayal of the main character having to 'find themselves' to discover who they are, which is always a great message to put out there.For me personally it's not up there with the Studio's best with some of the tones a bit too twee for my liking and hey I'm not afraid of a bit of Ghibli whimsy but they've done it so much better in the likes of From Up on Poppy Hill (which I feel is greatly underrated) and The Wind Rises that embrace the personal drama, humor and whimsy in equal and affecting use, considering also some of the films themes this may explain away why there wasn't as much humor in the film.It has to be said Ghibli always make interesting films & even with this being not one of their best it still has plenty to offer & I could still see it connect with a young adolescent girl audience.I hope that this (given the rumors) is not their last film for a while as their films make the animation landscape such a more vibrant place to view interesting films.

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