Suzume
2022 · Directed by Makoto Shinkai
Original language: Japanese
- animation
- drama
- adventure
- fantasy
The story
Suzume, 17, lost her mother as a little girl. On her way to school, she meets a mysterious young man. But her curiosity unleashes a calamity that endangers the entire population of Japan, and so Suzume embarks on a journey to set things right.
What it’s like
Luminous, hyperreal animation: sunlit summer streets bloom with saturated greens and cloud towers piled high over the sea, while the night skies carry a glittering, almost pearlescent sheen. Shinkai's backgrounds are photographic in their detail (rain-slick train platforms, lens flare on rusted guardrails, the grain of old wooden shrine beams) and the camera drifts through them with a patient, sweeping grace. The mood swings between warm nostalgia and a restless, sun-bleached unease whenever the cosmic-scale calamities appear, with rumbling earth and vast, dreamlike landscapes that feel more awe than dread. The score by Radwimps leans on swelling piano and wistful guitar, rising into big emotional crescendos. Pacing is brisk and road-trip episodic, a sequence of stations, ferries, and strange crossings, and its emotional arc is a young woman learning to carry grief while reaching toward a companion who is slowly letting her in. Violence is absent, but there are sudden earthquakes, collapsing buildings, and some peril, with a few tense, frightening moments. For viewers who want big-hearted, bittersweet anime with gorgeous scenery and a gentle, hopeful heart.
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