★ 7 / 10
The Garden of Words poetically symbolises the tranquility
The Movie Diorama
The Garden of Words poetically symbolises the tranquility and loneliness of rain. “A faint clap of thunder. Even if the rain comes not, I will stay here…
The Garden of Words poetically symbolises the tranquility and loneliness of rain. “A faint clap of thunder. Even if the rain comes not, I will stay here, together with you”. Walking the path of life is no easy feat. The appropriate metaphysical footwear must be utilised for every type of emotional terrain we encounter. Sandals for joy. Wellies for sadness. Sneakers for rage. Yearning to overcome our rational, or irrational, fears so that we can “walk” again. Teenage student Takao, an aspiring shoemaker, attempted to perform such a generous offer for Yukari. A mysterious woman he socialises with in the dense thickened foliage of a Japanese garden experiencing torrential downpour. Two souls of differing youth encompassing an identical level of maturity. Yukari avoiding her career to snack of delicious chocolate and consume canned beer, whilst Takao solidly working throughout his summer break.
The two share a common trait. Seclusion. The melancholy of isolation is one that evokes a rainfall of sympathy, and director/writer Shinkai embodies all of nature’s complexities to portray these wandering individuals. The ferocity of rain portraying both the characters’ sadness whilst shielding them from the rest of society. The pale green shading of the summery foliage producing a reassuring aura of tranquility within the garden. Yet it’s Shinkai’s usage of Man’yōshū poetry that truly captivates, adding a traditional authenticity to the Japanese central romantic narrative. With “love” being traditionally written as “lonely sadness”, Shinkai honed in on the deprivation of companionship. When both characters see each other as salvational assets as opposed to romantic interests, it provides a subtle layer of maturity that is commonly found in Shinkai’s writing. Love is never simple, yet nature finds a way to pull people together. The Garden of Words itself is that motif.
As expected, the animation was gorgeous. Faultless. Combining hand-drawn animation with rotoscoping to create meticulously constructed scenery, assisting in the world building of their blossoming friendship. Less detail is given to facial expressions, with much of the attentive focus towards the environmental backdrop, which occasionally leaves a vacuous emotional complexion. Almost expressionless on occasion. Not enough to deter from the character building, but worth noting.
Shinkai’s unfortunate issue here is with the runtime. It’s short. Absurdly short. At only forty six minutes in length, the character development between Takao and Yukari is often rushed with no emotional simmering. This became drastically noticeable during the climax when Takao discovers the reasoning behind Yukari‘s work avoidance. The exquisitely mature metaphors and symbolic imagery were somewhat diminished for a typical “anime ending”. What I mean by that, is the sole purpose in attempting to make the viewers shed a tear. The erratic framing, the J-pop music and the explosion of emotion is typical work from Shinkai, yet it never suited the preceding scenario. Whilst it nearly, oh so nearly, worked for me (I held back that tear!), it fell short due to the complacent storytelling. Motohiro Hata’s vocal talent behind the theme song “Rain” was exceptional though, almost replicating Takao’s personality. So I’ll give some leniency...
The Garden of Words is poetry. Visually and literarily. With gorgeously vibrant animation and themes of maturity, Shinkai has crafted a wonderfully organic story that depicts loneliness with a hint of empathy. If only he was able to stretch it out for another half an hour, we could’ve witnessed a masterpiece in the making.
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★ 7 / 10
Beautiful animation. A slow pace and lack of
Nathan
Beautiful animation. A slow pace and lack of character development limit this film slightly, but it is still a touching story that is a good addition to…
Beautiful animation. A slow pace and lack of character development limit this film slightly, but it is still a touching story that is a good addition to Shinkai's filmography. I really do not know why his films are always so focused on characters with such big age gaps...
Score: 70% ?
Verdict: Good
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★ 8 / 10
(Rwo) Review : GARDEN OF WORDS Is Cheesy, But Has Heart
Promoted as a feature-length film, Shinkai Makoto's Garden of Words surprisingly only lasts 46 minutes. However, it was enough for the director to portray…
Promoted as a feature-length film, Shinkai Makoto's Garden of Words surprisingly only lasts 46 minutes. However, it was enough for the director to portray human emotions as well as understand the purpose of relationships.The word "love" in modern Japanese is "ai", but in the ancient language, it was actually written as "koi", which is a compound of two other Kanji means "solitude" and "sad". Though Garden of Words is set in modern times, "love" in this film will be portrayed in its original meaning, which leads to a story about longing and loneliness, as well as suggesting an unhappy ending for love.At the center, there is Takao, a 15-year-old student who wants to become a shoe-maker. On rainy days, he often plays truant in a Japanese-style garden and learns to make shoes there. By chance he meets Yukino, a mysterious woman much older than him, and whenever it rains, the two of them meet each other in the garden. Over time, their relationship deepens and the mystery surrounding Yukino finally reveals itself on a dry day.Similar to Shnkai's previous films The Place Promised in Our Early Days, 5 Centimeters Per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices, the most impressive thing about Garden of Words are the vibrant & unique visual elements. In this latest film, he continues to develop his own unique style. Clean and cute, a little bit cheesy even, Shinkai uses excessive glare and light pink tones, and the result is a bombastic impressive 46- minute picture.The park's natural setting, with green trees drooping into the water, the wind stirring the small rocks, creates a space ripe with romance and poetry, which helps ease anxiety. Although the scenes in the school, Yukino's house, train station etc were beautifully drawn, the brightest points in the painting of Garden of Words are the natural moments when two people sit in the park together and enjoy the stillness of emotion.Garden of Words delivers a simple, soft love story, though many would argue that it is taboo. The director knows how to manipulate love, make it as natural as rain, by arranging the meeting at a far away location from where they work/study, only meeting on rainy days to make their feelings vibrate. Eventually, when the truth of their fate is revealed, the audience completely accepts it, because their love for each other is full of sincerity and cultivated diligently through the rainy days.Garden of Words is a triumph of visual style over substance. It can be very predictable, can be very cheesy when two people are hugging and crying at the end. But the movie creates honest and fresh emotions, accompanied by an impressive visual expression. Garden of Words is not simply the binding of the last two people through some lines of Japanese poetry that they read to each other, It is also the shining of unique storytelling style with images.And with the blink of an eye, a small gesture is enough to say everything about human emotion, words probably are not needed anymore. Garden of Words gives you a unique experience, exploring the visual and aesthetic language of love.Trung Rwo
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84%
AUDIENCE
· 500 ratings
7.4/10
61.9K
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seed please ppl.. and who wants to listen to the dub version?? it's gross.