Ponyo

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:25 am

Saw it today.

Visually impressive and imaginative.

Storywise though, weird. Just weird as hell.

Despite this, one thing I think about Miyazaki's movies (also saw Princess Monoke years ago) is that, whether you enjoy the film or not, you take away images that are impressed on your mind that you will never forget.

For example, I don't think I will ever forget that scene where the little boy and his mom are driving home during that tsunamai with those giant fish swimming beside them and Ponyo running on top of one of the fish. When you see that, you're like "WTF?" but on some deep level, it leaves quite the impression and almost forces you to come to the realization that there never really are true limits to the imagination. Just a beautiful scene in the visual sense.

Anybody seen this? Smooth?

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:15 pm

I caught this either late last year or early this year. I was very impressed. I'm curious about the English dub. It also seems quite different from what I'd expect most American audiences would like. Pleasantly surprised to have been wrong about that.

You're spot-on with the comment about visuals that you'll never forget.

Update: After hearing the English version of the theme, I think I'm content to ignore the dub.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:51 pm

Professor Smooth wrote: It also seems quite different from what I'd expect most American audiences would like. Pleasantly surprised to have been wrong about that.

Actually, I don't think you're wrong. I don't think American audiences would really appreciate the artistry involved here, and see it no more than as a child's cartoon.

Not to make a blanket statement, but in general American audiences are very close-minded when it comes to accepting the genius of artists from other parts of the world, in particular Japan. Not that this necessarily stems from an egocentric view of the world (which it does for some), but rather they have a hard time thinking outside the box, so to speak, because they are inundated with the same **** over and over again,so much so that anything beyond what they are used to is often met with derisive criticism.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:10 am

Yaya wrote: in particular Japan.

Ishin?