Anna Sasaki (Sara Takatsuki; Hailee Steinfeld in the English-dubbed version) is an introverted 12-year-old with low self esteem living in Sapporo, Japan with her foster parents, Yoriko (Nanako Matsushima; Geena Davis) and her unnamed husband. Suffering from severe anxiety, Anna is sent, after Yoriko seeks medical advice, to live with two of Yoriko's relatives in the nearby seaside town of Kissakibetsu. Upon moving there Anna sees a huge, abandoned mansion which, according to old fisherman Toicho (Ken Yasuda; Fred Tatasciore), was once a vacation home for affluent foreigners. Shortly later, a distressed Anna runs away into the mansion where she finds a young, blonde girl she'd been dreaming about: Marnie (Kasumi Arimura; Kiernan Shipka). They immediately bond, and as they get to know each other more, Anna discovers Marnie may just hold the secrets to Anna's ancestry.
This 2014 release by the mighty Studio Ghibli is them at the top of their game. Based on Joan G. Robinson's 1967 novel, director/co-writer Hiromasa Yonebayashi and his animation team (one of whom, Makito Futaki, sadly had her swansong with this film; she died in 2016) have realised this very fantastical family drama with evident patience, lucidity and attention to detail in every scene. The visuals are striking even by Ghibli's high standards, but even better here is how tenderly and sincerely the narrative and its themes are explored; by the end, I was on the verge of tears. But I won't elaborate on that further, for spoiler reasons.
The voice cast, in the Japanese-language version which I saw, all give realistic and effective turns, and staying briefly on the soundtrack, Takatsugu Muramatsu's score is fittingly vibrant and (in the more dramatic scenes) restrained. It is also fluidly edited and plotted. The full result was deservedly nominated for the 2014 Best Animated Feature Oscar and I'd challenge anybody after seeing it to question why; I think it could take everybody back mentally (and don't worry if you haven't seen it and thus don't get this; you will once you've seen it) to a time When Marnie Was There.
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