From Up on Poppy Hill

The year is 1963, Japan is preparing to host the Olympic Games, and finally, instead of looking to the troubled past, it is turning towards the hope and change of the future. But at a high school in the port city of Yokohama, a group of students are trying to save one particular piece of the past. The effort to preserve an old building where student clubs have found shelter also brings together a girl, Umi, and her classmate, Shun. But their own past holds secrets that will have a profound effect on their developing relationship. Hayao Miyazaki's script, based on the comic book of the same name, uses classic melodramatic twists and fateful obstacles, but doesn't let his characters succumb to them. Instead, he emphasises the youthful enthusiasm, determination and indomitability of his teenage characters in an attempt to recall the optimistic ethos of the decade. The master's son, Goró Miyazaki, directed the emotionally vivid film, and with colourful retro styling and vibrant animation, he succeeds in charmingly evoking the beauty of the central seaside town and capturing the captivating pace of a bygone era.