Whisper of the Heart

Publisher
Optimum
Director
Yoshifumi Kondo
Production
Studio Ghibli
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Film
Running time
111 mins
Year
1995

Whisper of the Heart

By John Huxley
23rd Apr 06

To risk starting this review on a low note, it’s humbling to know that we’ll never again see a film from Yoshifumi Kondo. He tragically passed away in 1998, Whisper of the Heart his only film as director. Now, while you shouldn’t let his untimely death have any effect on your opinion of the film, it is worth noting that Miyazaki considered him to be something of a protege. High praise indeed, and judging from the evidence here, he’s a great loss to animation and cinema as a whole.

Hoping to read 20 books before the summer ends, Whisper of the Heart’s main protagonist Shizuku spends much of her free time reading and writing. It’s here that she first comes across the name Seiji written in many of the library cards before her own. Taken by the notion of a bookish admirer, Shizuku quickly creates a romantic ideal in her mind. Yet when she finally comes face-to-face with the person she assumes to be Seiji, her ideal is soon shot down as he brushes her aside and belittles her attempt at song writing. Fuming and disillusioned, Shizuku buries her head in books again.

It’s a chance meeting with a stray cat on her way to the library that brings Shizuku to a mysterious antique shop high on top of a hill on the outskirts of Tokyo. Here she meets a kindly old man who shows her a wonderful clock depicting a romantic scene on its face, and an intriguing statue of a dapper feline he calls ‘the baron’. Her visit is cut short when she remembers that she’s late for an appointment, yet her intrigue gets the better of her and she eventually returns sometime later. It’s here that she once again meets Seiji and learns that first impressions can be very misleading.

I won’t go in to Whisper of the Heart’s story any further, but it’s safe to assume that their relationship develops from here on out. Unlike many of Ghibli’s films before and after it, Whisper of the Heart is primarily a romance. There are other strands to the story that could place this in the equally maligned ‘slice of life’ genre, yet the focus is very much on the central character’s troubled relationship.

Which is something that will come as a surprise to anyone who had the pleasure to watch Optimum’s earlier release of The Cat Returns prior to Whisper of the Heart. It might not have been immediately obvious, but The Cat Returns is a semi-sequel of sorts...with the emphasis on ‘of sorts’. Their relationship is not entirely obvious at first, as one is a whimsical fantasy adventure appealing to children and the other is a more realistic slice of life romantic tale. Yet when Shizuku finds the antique shop, the first connections begin to appear. Futa, the stray cat plays a more central (and speaking!) role in The Cat Returns. Likewise the figurine in the antique shop called the Baron is bought to life for the Cat Returns. And the antique shop itself houses both Futa and the Baron in both films. Yet these are really nothing more than statutory props and plot devices in Whisper of the Heart; a far cry from the fantasy and adventure of The Cat Returns.

It’s when Shizuku begins to write her story ‘Whisper of the Heart’ that the connection between the two films becomes really clear. An admirer of fantasy and fairy tales, she begins to write her own story using the Baron as inspiration - and the magical world she creates is visualised on screen, albeit fleetingly. Although there are some crucial differences, The Cat Returns is Shizuku’s story bought to life. So while it’s not a direct sequel and should be treated as a different film, the two are related in such a way that’s impossible to watch one without at least considering the other.

Despite this, both films are wildly different from each other. As you can probably tell from the review linked up there, I adored The Cat Returns. Yet only a few minutes in to Whisper of the Heart, it’s pretty clear that admiration won’t automatically be carried through to this film. Whisper of the Heart doesn’t carry any grand ambitions of magical worlds or flying castles; it centres instead around the relatively uneventful life of a normal schoolgirl. She could be considered a little eccentric in her love of books, but otherwise she’s plain as can be.

That’s not to say she’s boring. She’s obviously a talented girl, but she’s not so extraordinary that she distances herself from the audience. Forgetting appointments, ignoring housework, falling asleep with her clothes on; she’s easy to identify with. And when the story takes a twist or two and she’s forced to make decisions that may alter the course of her life, we understand when she follows her heart rather than her head. She may not be the enigmatic type of character that headline other Ghibli epics, yet she manages to carry your interest and garner your support until the very end.

Sadly the same can’t be said for the other half of the relationship, Seiji. He’s purposefully shown to be slightly smug and arrogant during the early part of the film, yet this never really wears off despite director Yoshifumi Kondo’s attempt to show him in a different light. Although he’s obviously a kind, headstrong and very determined individual, he feels much less approachable than the more down-to-earth Shizuku. By the end you’re left wondering what exactly it is Shizuku sees in him, and when said plot twist comes around it doesn’t exactly have the desired dramatic effect it really should because you could care less about one half of the relationship.

Of course in the end it doesn’t really matter as you’re just pleased to see them happy together...or you’re pleased to see Shizuku happy, at least.

Building up Whisper of the Heart’s plain yet strangely quaint vision of suburban Tokyo are several secondary characters. Few of these are truly memorable, yet somehow I don’t think they were ever meant to be. Whisper of the Heart is a film that’s small in scale when compared to say, Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle, and this is reflected in the film’s more memorable scenes.

When Shizuku is chasing a strange cat through the streets of Tokyo, she senses this could be the beginning of a story. She’s chasing adventure because her real life lacks the excitement she finds in books. It’s a great scene, even if what she eventually discovers isn’t exactly as thrilling you’d hope (or expect, if you watched The Cat Returns first like me!). And while this might pass for an average scene in a film like Spirited Away, it’s an exciting change of pace for Whisper of the Heart. Instead it focusses in the seemingly ordinary everyday activity of its heroine, her trials and tribulations as she tries to find her way through life and love. This not may sound very exciting to an action junkie like myself, but in reality it’s just so well executed you can’t fail to fall for its charms, subtle as they are.

Still. As much as I’d love to recommend it, I can’t pretend that Whisper of the Heart is for everyone. Harsh though it may seem, it would be fair to call it an uneventful film and I fully understand that won’t be to everyone’s taste. It starts slowly and builds from there, yet it never really shifts out of second gear.

And consider that the subject matter alone is going to be a big deterrent for many potential viewers; if you’re the kind of person who quite likes the idea of a slow paced high school romance, Whisper of the Heart comes highly recommended. I know I’ve lost the majority of readers with that sentence alone, but I wouldn’t want anyone to pick this up with false expectations. That said, it is an excellent slow paced high school romance and one that deserves to find a larger audience. If you’re still reading this by now I’d say it’s worth taking a risk and picking up Whisper of the Heart. It might not be your typical Ghibli fare, but it’s still a very good animation.

-- John Huxley 23rd Apr 06

Whisper of the Heart Images