コラム：パリジェンヌの東京映画レポート2 - 第3回

第3回：ジブリの新作「借りぐらしのアリエッティ」とともに童心に返る

“What do you like in the Japanese culture? Do you like Anime?” is a question I was asked more than once by Japanese and non-Japanese people. And each time, I recognized that this reveals without any doubt how strongly Japan and anime are connected. For many people around the world, the first word that comes to mind when talking about Japanese pop culture is anime. In fact, Japanese anime are nowadays worldwide known and contribute to an increasing interest for Japan, its culture and its language among Westerners.

The first Japanese anime dates back to 1917, as a response to a tendency coming from Europe and the US where the first cartoons came out in 1914. Since then, the Japanese anime industry has been flourishing, and nowadays there is hardly anyone who didn’t watch a Japanese or half-Japanese anime. In fact, the 70’s were the beginning of the cooperation between Japanese and European companies who produced anime such as “Vicke Viking”(Chiisana baikingu Bikke) or “Maya the Bee”（Mitsubachi Maya), anime I watched when I was younger and who still are well-known among children. But if we had to name just one person who marked his name in the Japanese animation industry today, it would be film director and co-founder of the Ghibli Studio Hayao Miyazaki.

An example of his work of art is now again on screen with a brand new Ghibli anime, “The Borrower Arrietty” (“Karigurashi no Arrietty”), which was written by Miyazaki and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. After “Ponyo in the cliff by the sea”, a Studio Ghibli production in 2008, which won the hearts of children and adults all around the world, The Borrower Arrietty” is to enthrall again a large audience.

One thought kept coming to my mind while watching this anime: Isn’t it remarkable that Miyazaki’s animation films, characterized by their traditional drawings, still manage to seduce so many people -children and adults!-, especially nowadays, where animations tend to be more and more realistic thanks to sophisticated techniques, such as 3D?

The lasting success of Ghibli’s productions is probably precisely due to those traditional hand-drawing methods which constitute the fundamental of animation for Miyazaki and which contribute to a specific atmosphere. An atmosphere we cannot find anymore in the latest 3D animations. And last but not least, there are the stories: moving fairytales which awaken the eternal child in every adult…
In a cinematographic world where everything is more and more filmed in a realistic way, even animations, it is a pure pleasure to watch Miyazaki’s productions. And the latest success of “Ponyo” is the best proof for it. French critics for instance were full of praise for this anime last year, and called it enchanting, splendid and poetic!

On that score,” The Borrower Arrietty” represents worthily Miyazaki’s anime world. Colorful and gentle drawings made by hand and therefore especially enchanting, a story about friendship and a touching tale…On top of that, there is also the wonderful music, which for the first time was composed by a foreign artist, the French singer Cecile Corbel, but which stays completely in the vein of Miyazaki’s productions and which is worthy of Joe Hisashi’s pieces of music.

Arrietty will delight the Japanese as well as the non-Japanese audience, as Miyazaki’s productions are now considered as master pieces throughout the world, and not as simple animation blockbusters.

Cinema makes you dive into another universe, but Miyazaki’s animations have the power to make you travel in a much deeper fantastic world…It is definitely worth a try!

[抄訳]

「日本文化の中で何が好き？」「アニメが好きなの？」　これは私たちが日本について話すとき、よく聞かれる質問です。その都度、現代の日本人とアニメは強く結びついているということを認識させられます。世界の多くの人にとって、日本のポップカルチャーについて語るとき、最初に出てくる言葉がアニメなのです。

日本最初のアニメの歴史は、ヨーロッパ、アメリカで1914年に生み出されたコミックの流れを受けて、1917年に始まりました。その後、世界で日本製アニメを目にしない日はない、というくらい日本のアニメ産業は繁栄し続けてきました。そんな繁栄を続ける今の日本アニメ界を代表する人間を一人挙げるとしたら、それはやはり、スタジオジブリの共同設立者で映画監督の宮崎駿になるでしょう。

その宮崎駿が企画・脚本を手掛け、新人の米林宏昌監督がメガホンをとったスタジオジブリの最新作「借りぐらしのアリエッティ」が先週末に日本で公開され、大ヒットを記録しています。

この「アリエッティ」を見ている間、ずっと考えていたことが、「3D技術のおかげで、よりリアルに描くことが多くなっている今日のアニメの中で、伝統的な画を用いて老若男女の観客を魅了し続ける宮崎アニメは注目すべきことなのではないか？」ということです。

スタジオジブリの成功が長く続いている理由のひとつに、まさにその伝統的な手描きの手法による画があるでしょう。その手描きの画がジブリ作品にある種の独特な雰囲気をもたらしているのです。それは今日我々が目にする機会が多い3D映画の中にはありません。そして、忘れてはいけないのは、ストーリーです。多くの映画がよりリアルさを求める傾向の中、宮崎アニメでは、どの大人の中にもある、永遠の子供の部分を呼び覚ます感動的なおとぎ話が描かれます。それは「崖の上のポニョ」を見ても明らかです。

新作の「アリエッティ」も、感動的な物語がカラフルで優しいタッチの画とともに描かれ、宮崎駿の世界を完璧に表現しています。フランス人アーティストのセシル・コルベルによる音楽も宮崎アニメの世界観、久石譲の音楽の流れをしっかりと受け継いでいるので、「アリエッティ」は、単なる大ヒット作品としてではなく、世界的な傑作として認知され、日本人のみならず、外国人をも魅了することでしょう。

シネマはいつも別世界に連れて行ってくれますが、宮崎アニメはより深いファンタスティックな世界に連れていってくれるパワーを持っています。間違いなく一見の価値ありでしょう。