Arrietty
A modern Studio Ghibli classic about the tiny Arrietty, who lives under the floorboards of a country house inhabited by ‘big’ people.
Arrietty is based on a series of children’s books from the 1950s by the British author Mary Norton. Living beneath the floorboards of a magnificent country house are the tiny members of the Clock family. Father Pod, mother Homely and their fourteen-year-old daughter Arrietty survive by ‘borrowing’ small items from the elderly owner. Their existence has gone unnoticed, but that changes when Sho, a sick little boy whose mother grew up in the house, moves in. Just as Arrietty is receiving her first lesson in ‘borrowing’, she is discovered by Sho in the garden. This poses a major threat to the Clock family, despite the blossoming friendship between Arrietty and Sho.
Arrietty marked Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s directorial debut. The film was a huge hit in Japan and firmly established Yonebayashi’s reputation; he went on to direct films such as When Marnie Was There (2014) and Mary And The Witch’s Flower (2017).
Written by A.V.