by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
I’ve always had a soft spot for animation. More years than not, at least a couple of animated features find their way onto my top 10 list. So, I’m setting out to shine a light on some films that may have passed you by. The idea is to take a look at some underseen gems—so no Toy Story or Frozen here.
Let’s get started.
—
Nothing really popped out to me for this month, so I started scrolling the TCM hub of Max and stumbled upon a combination that spoke to me.
What if the director of Weathering with You, Suzume, and Your Name, Makoto Shinkai, created a coming of age film that’s also an alternative history of post-World War II?
Sounds like a match made in heaven to me and it’s the basis of The Place Promised in our Early Days.
Set roughly 50 years after the end of the war, Japan in this world is split between north and south, one controlled by the “Union” and the other half controlled by the U.S. a trio of young friends are fascinated by a mysterious tower inside of their borders and aim to fly to it, before a mysterious tragedy strikes and one of them disappears. When they learn she’s in a coma connected to this tower, a plan is hatched to take that flight as she and one of them explore a connection that seems to transcend her current predicament.
The film is Shinkai’s feature debut, but there’s a lot here that reminds me of his other films. It has that mix of romance and the fantastical which seems to be at the heart of what he does, paired with a slow pace and a focus on the visuals and a bright score that contrasts with an emotional narrative (complete with melodramatic narration). There’s also a very Interstellar-like message of this movie (yes, yes, it predates Christopher Nolan by a decade) about love transcending time and space, which also seems to be a thread Shinkai likes to pull on in his movies.
The true highlight is really the animation, which is gorgeous. Despite the film being animated, Shinkai presents things so cinematically, particularly with his use of light, that it feels like there’s a camera capturing everything. It’s just a matter of whether that can overcome the film’s other flaws. The pacing feels a bit choppy with some awkward transitions. In other films of Shinkai’s, I’ve had the feeling that I don’t quite know what’s going on with the fantastical aspect. That’s true here, too, (particularly at the climax) but, oddly, I almost feel like it’s better explained than most of the fantasy in his movies.
While it doesn’t quite live up to the high hopes I had on the basis of the genre mashup, it’s still an interesting project by probably the most prominent Japanese director not named Hayao Miyazaki this century.
However, if you’ve previously found Shinkai isn’t really your speed, I wouldn’t expect this one to change your mind.
—
I’m excited to continue to geek out on some great animated work you may not have had a chance to catch. Next month, I might just keep us in the world of Asian animation.
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Bluesky and Letterboxd