“Taking on the weight of hype and anticipation and expectation that come along with a new Star Wars film would be a herculean task for any performer. The last new trilogy marked the beginning and end for many young actors’ careers. Luckily, Daisy Ridley won’t have to worry about falling victim to the same fate as Hayden Christensen, and not just because The Force Awakens is a greater film than his two goes at the saga,” we said, naming her performance one of the breakthroughs of the year. “In playing Rey, a brand-new character who consists of equal parts Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, Ridley pulls off the incredible feat of portraying both vulnerability and fierce self-determination. Her eyes do more heavy lifting than most performers’ entire body, and her full commitment to and embodiment of her character is stunning. In both scenes of wordless action and dialogue-driven drama, Ridley emerges fully formed and utterly compelling.”
So, what will be her follow-up to the space saga? A Studio Ghibli film. Rather than a new work from the studio — which seems more and more unlikely as time goes on — they are releasing Isao Takahata‘s 1991 feature Only Yesterday for the first time in North America and have recruited Ridley and Dev Patel to lead the voice cast. Set for NYC release this Friday, before an expansion in late February, GKIDS have delivered a great new trailer, along with a clip for Ridley discusses her love for the film. Check out both videos below, along with a new poster.
It’s 1982, and Taeko (Daisy Ridley) is 27 years old, unmarried, and has lived her whole life in Tokyo. She decides to visit her family in the countryside, and as the train travels through the night, memories flood back of her younger years: the first immature stirrings of romance, the onset of puberty, and the frustrations of math and boys. At the station she is met by young farmer Toshio (Dev Patel), and the encounters with him begin to reconnect her to forgotten longings. In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.
Written and directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder and Academy Award® nominee Isao Takahata (The Tale of The Princess Kaguya), Only Yesterday is a masterpiece of time and tone, rich with humor and stirring emotion, from one of the world’s most revered animation studios. Critically acclaimed but never before released in North America, the film is receiving a national theatrical release in a new, Studio Ghibli-produced, English-language version in celebration of its 25th anniversary.
Only Yesterday opens in New York at IFC Center on January 1 and expands to additional cities on February 26.