Studio Ghibli is keeping busy, with two features set to debut this year, including the next work from mastermind Hayao Miyazaki, as well as Grave of the Fireflies director Isao Takahata. But before that, another one of their features will finally land in US theaters. After premiering two summers ago in Japan, From Up on Poppy Hill will get a domestic bow this fall thanks to GKIDS and today the theatrical trailer has arrived.
While dubbed versions aren’t my forte, this one includes voice work from Christina Hendricks, Ron Howard, Aubrey Plaza and Jamie Lee Curtis, marking one of her few feature roles in some time. Judging from the trailer, it seems to match our thoughts when we saw it back at Toronto International Film Festival 2011, saying it includes lovely and delicate landscapes and backgrounds, but doesn’t “have the wow-factor such as other Studio Ghibli’s films of fantasy and magic,” despite it being a “thoughtful and reserved film with steady pacing.” Check it out below, along with the domestic poster.
Synopsis:
From Academy Award(R) winner Hayao Miyazaki and director Goro Miyazaki comes this uniquely inspired coming-of-age story. Set in Yokohama in 1963, as Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics, the story centers on Umi and Shun, two high school kids caught up in the changing times. But a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart. With its rich color palette, stunning exteriors, sun-drenched gardens, bustling cityscapes and painterly detail, From Up on Poppy Hill provides a pure, sincere, and nuanced evocation of the past, and marks yet another creative triumph for Studio Ghibli.
From Up on Poppy Hill arrives on March 15th, 2013.