FILM

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents MFAH Film: Castles in the Sky: Studio Ghibli.

Cinema audiences across North America have been delighted to experience this survey of timeless Japanese anime in newly struck 35mm prints. Classics such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and My Neighbor Totoro are complemented by more-rarely seen movies from one of the world’s most influential film studios.

While Hayao Miyazaki is Ghibli’s most easily identifiable auteur, his work emanates from the Ghibli house style developed by himself and Isao Takahata: a deceptively simple, gently-paced aesthetic that sets the studio’s work apart from the more kinetic anime that dominates Japanese television.

Pom Poko
Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko

Directed by Isao Takahata
1994, in Japanese with English subtitles
Japan
119 minutes

Tanuki, the legendary Japanese raccoon-dogs, are fun-loving creatures who live deep in the ancient forests. Threatened by the encroachment of suburban developments, one group of tanuki finally resolves to wage war against the workers and machines.

Trained with the aid of three tribal elders from the distant island of Shikoku, the insurgent tanuki use their magic to stage a series of spectacular interventions to stop the invading humans once and for all.

Many of these films will also screen for free on weekdays as a part of the "Reel Kids" film series. Click here for more information and showtimes.

Film descriptions excerpted from the TIFF Cinematheque (Toronto).