Film Reviews

Arrietty

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Mark Strong
• Details: Japan / 94mins (G).

From Studio Ghibli, who brought you Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away and Ponyo, comes this adaptation of Mary Norton's Borrowers series. Sweet and very easy on the eye it may be, the story doesn't have enough bang for your buck to keep interest levels high.
While waiting for a heart operation, the sickly Sho (Holland) moves to the country with his aunt for some peace and quiet. He doesn't find it: living in the floorboards of the house are a family of little people, or Borrowers, comprising of dad Pod (Strong), mum Homily (Olivia Colman) and daughter Arrietty (Ronan). Sneaking into the house at night to 'borrow' food and other materials, Arrietty is spotted by Sho, who assures her he won't tell a soul. But then the nasty housekeeper Haru (Geraldine McEwan) gets wind of them and calls the exterminators…
As expected from Ghibli, the animation, another hark back to pre-CGI times typical of the studio, is a joy to watch: the eyes bathe in the sumptuous colours, colours and more colours than dance around the screen. As expected it too, there's a lovely marriage of fantasy and reality. Ronan's vocal performance brings innocence and warmth to Arrietty, and her first adventure, when she convinces her father to bring her along on her first 'borrowing', is just pure magic. Creeping about the bowels of the house, there is a certain Goonies vibe to the escapade. The whole experience induces a total immersion in this micro universe.
Not everything about Arrietty works as well as it should, though. After that wonderful venture into the house, Arrietty doesn't have anything to match it. The story first slows to a halt, and then a standstill. Nothing much happens again until the run-in, which fails to have the excitement the opening salvo boasted. Jokes are hard to come by too: the enjoyment of Arrietty is based on wonder but it's very dry in its telling and children may be disappointed at the lack of cheeriness. Strong's reading is a little staid too: there's no life to his Pod, an honourable but joyless man. Kind of like the movie as a whole.

Review by Gavin Burke