The moving debut feature by Hiromasa Yonebayashi based on a screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki follows a friendship between a boy and a miniature borrower girl.
Twelve-year-old Shō has a heart condition and is spending time at his mother’s countryside home waiting for an operation when he spots a tiny girl running away from a cat. Arrietty is one of the borrowers—tiny people who secretly live in big people’s houses. They pick flowers and make food, and at night they venture out on missions to “borrow” things they need, always cautious to remain unnoticed. Arrietty and Shō become friends, which puts the peaceful life of her family of borrowers under threat.
The Secret World of Arrietty is the first of two Studio Ghibli films directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Both Arrietty, released in 2010, and When Marnie Was There (2014) have the peaceful coexistence of different living creatures as central themes. A fair share of screen time is devoted to the everyday life of the borrowers, revealed through meticulously drawn interiors and the tools that Arrietty and her father use to move between cupboards and tables. Simple objects from the human world, such as nails, hairclips, sticky tape, laces, glue, and sugar cubes, acquire a new meaning in the borrowers’ world. Contrasting their world with Shō’s, Hiromasa Yonebayashi tells a story of solidarity and mutual help that create the foundation for a harmonious coexistence.
The film will be screened in Japanese with Russian subtitles.
The Secret World of Arrietty
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Japan, 2010. 90 min
6+
