=================
Garden of Words
=================
:CreationDate: 2015-03-08 16:15:39
:Id: anime/review/garden-of-words
:tags: - anime
- review
:rating: 3.5
:original: https://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/garden-of-words
SHINKAI Makoto (新海 誠) became famous a decade ago with Voices of a
Distant Star (Hoshi no Koe ほしのこえ), a short (25 minutes) about a
long distance relationship (across interstellar space and relativistic
time distortions).
He went on to write and direct longer movies (The Place Promised in
Our Early Days, 雲のむこう, 約束の場所, 2004; 5 Centimeters per
Second, 秒速5センチメートル, 2007; `Journey to Agartha, 星を追う子ども,
2011 <../agartha/>`_), trying with various levels of success to keep
the attention of the characters' emotions and inner stories, more than
on the overall plot and action.
With "Garden of words" (言の葉の庭), Shinkai returns to a shorter
form, which I have to say seems to be more congenial to him: his
longer movies felt slow and diluted, and it was hard for me to stay
engaged (ok, "5 centimeters per second" should probably be counted as
three shorts instead of a long movie, but I honestly had problems
staying awake during the first one). A 15-year-old boy skips the first
few hours of school when it rains, spending the time in the Gyoen park
in Shinjuku, designing shoes. Yes, he wants to be a shoemaker when he
grows up, and he's already made a pair of moccasins for himself. In
the park, he meets an older woman, who seems to have some problems she
doesn't talk about: she eats chocolate and drinks beer, she reads, and
not much else. They start talking to each other, and this will help
both of them to grow and overcome their problems.
As I said, the story is not much, but the gorgeous quality of the
picture, the subtle music, and the impressive voice acting carry the
work perfectly. If you like Shinkai's work, you don't need any
prompting; if you had given up on him after Agartha, Garden may make
you think again: I know it did to me.
