Great Film For All Generations

Rating: 9/10 (5 August 2006)

TOTORO, in classic Miyazaki tradition, brings the fantastic into the realm of everyday occurrences. The underlying story is rather unextraordinary: a Japanese father moves into the countryside with his two daughters, and they adjust to their new pastoral environment while waiting for the mother to be released from the hospital. We are not explained exactly why the mother is bedridden, but the ambiguous reason for her hospitalization plays an effective role in keeping the dramatic tension taught throughout the film. However, the plot is driven mainly by the imagination of the two children whose experiences with the magical create the driving mechanism behind the film.
Without giving anything away, TOTORO is a heartwarming film that inspires both the young and the old alike. Watching the film again several years after seeing it in the theaters, I realize that the story works not because it is about fantastic and magical characters but rather it involves everyday struggles to which we can relate. In TOTORO, we see Miyaki revisiting the same themes (involving familial harmony, nature, environmental awareness, courage, etc.) that he further develops in his later works. Nevertheless, the mastery and the imagination behind his craft keeps the story fresh.
Despite what the Box Office report card may indicate for TOTORO, this is a film sure to be a hit with the family.