When Marnie Was There (2014)

July 19, 2014 (JP) • Animation, Drama, Family • 103m

Overview

Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.

Director

Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Writers

Masashi Ando, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Joan G. Robinson, Keiko Niwa

Top Billed

Sara Takatsuki

Keywords

friendship based on novel or book imaginary friend flashback photograph calm anime personal diary psychological

Where to watch

Free / Included

HBO Max Amazon Channel

Rent

Buy

Top Billed Cast

Sara Takatsuki

Anna Sasaki (voice)

Kasumi Arimura

Marnie (voice)

Nanako Matsushima

Yoriko Sasaki (voice)

Susumu Terajima

Kiyomasa Oiwa (voice)

Toshie Negishi

Setsu Oiwa (voice)

Ryoko Moriyama

Elderly Lady (voice)

Kazuko Yoshiyuki

Nanny (voice)

Hitomi Kuroki

Hisako (voice)

Hiroyuki Morisaki

Art Teacher (voice)

Takuma Otoo

Neighborhood Association Officer (voice)

Hana Sugisaki

Sayaka (voice)

Bari Suzuki

Elderly Lady 2 (voice)

Shigeyuki Totsugi

Marnie's Father (voice)

Ken Yasuda

Toichi (voice)

Yo Oizumi

Dr. Yamashita (voice)

Yuhko Kaida

Marnie's Mother (voice)

Renge Ishiyama

Emily (voice)

Crew

Tamaki Kojo

Line Producer

Masashi Ando

Screenplay

Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Screenplay

Joan G. Robinson

Novel

Keiko Niwa

Screenplay

Hiromasa Yonebayashi

Director

Shiho Sato

Background Designer

Masashi Ando

Animation Director

Koji Hoshino

Producer

Yohei Taneda

Art Direction

Yoshiaki Nishimura

Producer

Eiko Matsushima

Painter

Kaneko Fujimaki

Additional Photography

Toshio Suzuki

Executive Producer

Priscilla Ahn

Theme Song Performance

Ryoichi Fukuyama

Co-Producer

Noboru Yoshida

Art Designer

Hideki Hamasu

Key Animation

Ayako Hata

Key Animation

Kazuyoshi Onoda

Key Animation

Shinsuke Nonaka

Production Manager

Shinji Hashimoto

Key Animation

Takaaki Yamashita

Key Animation

Takuro Okada

Casting

Yohei Takamatsu

Art Designer

Masami Hosokawa

Producer

Yumi Ishii

Background Designer

Naomi Kasugai

Background Designer

Misa Koyasu

Key Animation

Naoya Fujimaki

Co-Producer

Rie Matsubara

Editor

Kyohei Ito

Production Manager

Shinji Suetomi

Key Animation

Eiji Yamamori

Key Animation

Kikuyo Yano

Background Designer

Masafumi Yokota

Key Animation

Ryûji Hayashi

Casting

Tomoko Nakayama

Producer

Yoichi Nishikawa

Art Designer

Masashi Ando

Character Designer

Shunsuke Hirota

Key Animation

Yuka Nitta

Background Designer

Hiroyuki Okiura

Key Animation

Akiyo Okuda

Key Animation

Shinji Otsuka

Key Animation

Koji Kasamatsu

Sound Director

Makiko Futaki

Key Animation

Kosuke Hayashi

Background Designer

Ryoko Ina

Background Designer

Atsuko Otani

Key Animation

Ayae Kanbe

Background Designer

Junichi Taniguchi

Background Designer

Kenichi Yamada

Key Animation

Takayuki Hamada

Key Animation

Takeshi Honda

Key Animation

Tatsuya Kushida

Background Designer

Kitaro Kosaka

Key Animation

Kiyoshi Sameshima

Background Designer

Sayaka Hirahara

Background Designer

Kenichi Konishi

Key Animation

Atsuko Tanaka

Key Animation

Seiko Yoshioka

Background Designer

Eriko Kimura

Sound Director

Akira Honma

Key Animation

Naoko Kawahara

Key Animation

Yoji Takeshige

Background Designer

Atsushi Tamura

Key Animation

Takashi Omori

Art Designer

Ayumi Egawa

Background Designer

Kazuo Oga

Background Designer

Michiyo Suzuki

Key Animation

Youichi Watanabe

Background Designer

Tsutomu Awata

Key Animation

Megumi Kagawa

Key Animation

Seiji Okuda

Co-Producer

Ei Inoue

Key Animation

Katsuya Kondo

Key Animation

Ryosuke Tsuchiya

Key Animation

Hiroomi Yamakawa

Key Animation

Tomotaka Kubo

Background Designer

Satoko Nakamura

Background Designer

Naoya Wada

Key Animation

Shougo Furuya

Key Animation

Katsutoshi Nakamura

Key Animation

Moe Usami

Key Animation

Atsushi Okui

Director of Photography

Takatsugu Muramatsu

Original Music Composer

Aiko Funaki

Art Designer

Keiko Itogawa

Special Effects

Hajime Takagi

Sound Recordist

Takeshi Imaizumi

Sound Recordist

Koji Kasamatsu

Sound Mixer

Mika Yamaguchi

Foley Artist

Junji Yabuta

Compositing Artist

Atsushi Tamura

Compositing Artist

Hidenori Shibahara

Compositing Artist

Reviews

Ewa Wiman

⭐ 10/10

April 18, 2015

This is a very beautiful animated film from Studio Ghibli, possibly the last one to com out of Studioe Ghibli for some time or last one ever.

It is about Anna, a young girl that we learn has asthma and is feeling very alone. She is sent to relatives in the country to recuperate from severe sickness.

Once there she meets another young girl, who is blond and also has beautiful blue eyes like Anna. Anna feels real connection to this girl. Duri… read the rest.

Reno

⭐ 9/10

June 16, 2015

> Some people're destined to meet the secret friend.

From the director Hiromasa Yonebayashi of 'The Secret World of Arriety' fame. Based on the 1967 English novel of the same name and so the important characters borrowed the western names. This is what I call a fine adaptation, great transformation from the words to the motion picture. Actually, it suited for the narration from the standpoint of Japanese culture and lifestyle, especially for this anime version with the beautiful fictional coastal landscapes. Whenever I remember this film in the future, that Marsh house would be the first thing to pop out in my mind, an unforgettable landmark for sure.

The movie promos were damp. The posters were not that impressive, but okay and the trailer was very ordinary. Studio Ghibli was the reason to go for it, so I expected nothing spectacular from the movie. Even while I was watching, I thought it was just an enjoyable mystery flick, but you know sometime the value of the whole movie comes at the end twist. Once the end was near my stance changed, especially after the hidden truth revelation. Some movies need a re-watch to terminate any doubts regarding characters and scenes. As for this movie, if your focus is straight, then it's does not require.

Not a technical brilliance like the director's previous movie, but the story was strong and twisty. The characters were very interesting, suspense was the movie's influence for the audience to stick till the end. There is no loose end, certainly gives a few topics to discuss about, but the narration moves on a circular track and hits back like the boomerang. That does not mean it is a time travel or something. The narration bends and blends with the time. To realise what is real and what is not, you have to wait till the end. After seeing the film, I understood everyone's childhood memories could monopolize if we encounter same object, place, person and other things again in the later life. Yes, I had few minor experience in my life as well.

The opening dialogue itself a hint of what kind of movie it is going to be. There are two prominent girls, Anna and Marnie in the story, like the Anna and Elsa from 'Frozen'. The narration flips on a regular basis to tell the multiple layered story. As this film was a puzzle in portrayal, obviously viewers try to solve it, including me. I tried my best. I thought Anna's childhood toy was something to do with all the fuss, but I was terribly wrong. That was a perfect divert if you observe it closely. In another perspective, I kept 'The Others' and 'The Orphanage' in mind, but was not even close to where this story was heading. Whether you succeed or not, very fun to solve a mystery, you know. Finally, it gave me full satisfaction like that indirectly I saw 'The Uninvited' once again.

Feels like the Oscars was concluded yesterday, but I am already thinking about the next one. If I am not wrong this movie is definitely one of the contenders for the best animation race, along with 'The Good Dinosaur' probably. Absolutely, I would be disappointed if I don't see it in the final five. There is lots of time between now and then, so anything might happen, who knows. After all, this film has already won my little heart and millions of other's. I know no one can replace Mr. Miyazaki, but feels like Hiromasa Yonebayashi could come near if his future projects as much effective as his one. Best of luck to him and he's only a 41. But remember Isao Takahat is 80 and still in the race, yet to announce his retirement. And this film was very close to his 'Only Yesterday'.

> I love you more than any girl I've ever known.

Studio Ghibli is like Disney Studio from the east. As we know, narrating a fairy tale having the tween girls in the lead is what they're famous for. The previous couple of movies were out of their trademark, so, happy they are back with this masterwork. At a same time I am very very very very sad, because it's their final movie after the 30 years of triumph. Since Hayao Miyazaki's retirement everything falling apart from the studio's management. They've given reasons and it is only a temporary, though hope the rise of 3D animation is not the one to halt the production, praying for the pause to be lifted soon.

This film is not just passing through from this giant anime production house, but it is a masterpiece. As usual, it is a girly movie and that does not stop grownups, especially men from a watch. I loved it, everytime when I like a movie I express my desire for a sequel and so I did for this film. Though it was one time story with nothing left over for further development, possibly some new thing can be attached to it. Whatever happens this movie will remain as one of the best from the studio and can compete with any modern animations and live-shot masterworks. Highly recommended, not just for anime or animation fans, but for mystery and who love the layers in story narration.

9/10

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Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

—

Revenue

$34,949,567

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When Marnie Was There (2014)

Masashi Ando, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Joan G. Robinson, Keiko Niwa

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

Ewa Wiman

Reno

Recommended Movies

Moana

Project Hail Mary

The Shawshank Redemption

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

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