The Place Promised in Our Early Days - Eclipse Magazine
- Eclipse Magazine
- Sheldon A.Wiebe
- 08/07/05
- click here
"... this is a rare gem."
"...a triumph on all fronts.
"
?The Place Promised in Our Days? is a beautifully executed tale of best friends, first love, and promises better not made. It is also a tale of the effects of a parallel universe on our own: a link between the two universes and the eruption between the two parts of a divided Japan, and a mysterious tower at the heart of all these events.
Middle school students Hiroki and Takuya are best friends. Hiroki is a bit on shy side, and a dreamer. Tekuya is a more gregarious sort. They live in a Japan that been broken in two by a war, and have a dream of building an airplane and flying to a mysterious tower that was built in North Japan. To this end, they?ve taken summer jobs in a manufacturing plant near where they?ve begun work on the plane in an abandoned barn.
Both have noticed a cute girl in their class, Sayuri, but have not really given serious thought about her ? until she begins visiting their secret workshop. That?s when Hiroki and Tekuya promise that, when they fly their plane to the tower, they will take her with them ? but the day they make that promise is the last time they see her, and they soon drift apart as well.
Three years later, Hiroki and Tekuya cross paths again, but now Tekuya is working on a project to determine the reason for that tower?s existence ? and it has been learned that it connects their Earth with a parallel universe. We also see Sayuri in a deserted world, where the tower exists only as a ruin, but is she really there or is she dreaming ? or both?
When Hiroki begins to dream about Sayuri in that desolated world, he decides to find out what happened to her and discovers that she has been sleeping for the last three years ? and that it is believed that she has made contact with the parallel universe. Hiroki immediately theorizes that. if he can fly her to the tower, she will awaken ? but when the war breaks out, Tekuya is not thrilled by his idea.
It was Makoto Shinkai?s intention to make a film that challenge its audience to experience the same emotions and reactions as it would to a well made live-action film. It would seem to be a huge challenge for a man whose only previous work was a twenty-five minute short [?Voices of a Distant Star?], if that short hadn?t been made, in its entirety, by Shinkai.
?The Place? may not have the most plot, but it is a wonder of emotional complexity. All the emotions that come with being best friends [and drifting apart], first love [and the loss thereof], and of being in a world you can?t control, come rushing to the fore from a beautifully designed and exquisitely animated backdrop. Aided by fine characterization and vocal performances ? and a sadly wistful score ? this is a rare gem. If you watch the film at different times, when you are in different moods, each viewing brings something new to the surface. It is easy to see why Shinkai has been lauded as the new Hideo Miyazaki ? ?The Place We Were Promised in Our Days? is a triumph on all fronts.
This DVD release includes interviews with Shinkai and the three actors who brought Hiroki, Tekuya and Sayuri to life, plus a collection of original Japanese trailers. The insert card features a poem by Shinkai [likely the lyrics to the theme] and a brief history of the making of the film. Inside the DVD jacket is what appears to be a stream of consciousness meditation by Sayuri, from that parallel universe.
Posted on Sunday, August 07, 2005 (Archive on Wednesday, September 07, 2005)