From what I usually expect of movies and what I want good movies to do is
not fall in the trap of clichés and predictability. Studio Ghibli's
Whisper of the Heart falls into both of these traps. For some reason, however, I still love this movie immensely. I believe the reason for my affection is the characters and of how real the story feels. The story revolves around Shizuku, a junior high school student with a passion for writing. After trying to rent out a book from the library that has been rented before, she finds out that the one with the same interest in books as her is a boy named Seiji, who she hates from past experience. This plot point I could see coming from a mile away but am given enough time with Shizuku as an individual that I can relate to her in some way and enjoy her curiousness for storytelling. This boy is also set up as sort of a rival for her as he plans to follow his dream of making violins and move out of the country. This pushes her to write an entire novel before he gets back. Kind of cliché and it's very predictable, yes, but the atmosphere and the lovable characters make the movie. I say atmosphere mostly because of one location: the antique shop run by Seiji's grandfather. You can tell that this particular room had a lot of effort put into it. The times that Shizuku is in the antique shop, you can pause the movie at any time and spot all sorts of knick-knacks and curious items. One of these items like the suited cat, the Baron, gets his own movie in the future. The Baron does also play a big role in the story as Shizuku's novel is about the Baron's adventure to get his wife back which parallels Seiji's grandfather's life. Everything about this movie involving plot I should hate because it is as predictable as can be, but the characters, environment, and message are just so good that I honestly just don't care.
Whisper of the Heart is
very good.
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