When Marnie Was There (film)
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Marnie: Please, Anna, promise me something. That we'll remain a secret. Forever. |
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When Marnie Was There (Japanese 思い出のマーニー, literally Marnie of Memories) is a 2014 psychological drama film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and animated by Studio Ghibli based on the novel of the same name by Joan G. Robinson. The rights were sold to Ghibli in spring 2012, and the novel gained a boost in sales following the film's release. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2015, but lost to Pixar's Inside Out. It is the last film to be produced before the restructuring of Studio Ghibli, and the last film for Yonebayashi before leaving Ghibli and joining Studio Ponoc.
When Marnie Was There follows the story of twelve year old Anna Sasaki, who, after an asthma attack, moves in with her foster parents' relatives Setsu and Kiyomasa Oiwa for the summer, where the air is cleaner. There, she meets Marnie, a mysterious girl who lives in the mansion near the marsh. The film focuses on Anna's interactions with Marnie, and Anna's growing self esteem arising from these interactions, as well as Anna's journey to uncover who Marnie really was.
Of course, being a Ghibli movie, the film has the studio-mandated rolling hills, lush green forests, Silence Is Golden, and Slice of Life moments. Being a psychological drama, it contains many Tear Jerker moments. Be aware. You should have a box of tissues nearby.
Tropes used in When Marnie Was There (film) include:
- Adaptation Name Change: Some characters like the main two girls retained their original names, but others didn't.
- Novel: Priscilla. Film: Sayaka.
- Novel: Wundermenny. Film: Toichi.
- Novel: Peggs. Film: Oiwas.
- Novel: Sandra. Film: Nobuko.
- Adapted Out: The other four girls in Scilla's group, including Jane and Roly-Poly, disappear in the film. Why aren't they there? There's not enough time to introduce four more characters, especially since the audience expects a character called "Marnie" to appear a lot in a film whose title contains her name.
- Aerith and Bob: Some characters retained their original names from the novel. Others didn't. Whose name gets changed and whose name remains the same? We don't know. Ghibli probably used a random number generator to decide what to change, as there is almost no pattern in these changes other than "the main characters retain their names" and "we changed the names to reflect our Japanese setting". We have the standard English Anna and Marnie, as well as Emily, but also Sayaka, the Oiwa family, and Hisako.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Happens during the last scene Marnie and Anna share, right when they are saying goodbye. Given that Marnie is Anna's grandmother, it is likely that the love is the kind shared between family members rather than a romantic feeling.
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Anna: I love you, I love you, and I won't ever forget you. I'll never forget you, ever. |
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- Arcadia: Anna is sent to live this lifestyle to improve her health, frequently exploring the forest and beaches surrounding her new house.
- Bait and Switch Lesbians: Although never explicitly stated in the marketing for the film, almost every sign in the film points to a potential relationship between Anna and Marnie. Then The Reveal happens.
- Bittersweet Ending: Anna moves away from the countryside as a more confident person. However, she cannot interact with Marnie any more after finding out the truth about her. One of the last shots of the film is she imagining Marnie waving from the window of her mansion.
- The trope can also apply in real life. When Marnie Was There is Ghibli's last film that they produced before their restructuring, and shutting down their animation department. Its bittersweet ending, thus, makes the studio's farewell even more emotional.
- Break the Cutie: Marnie is introduced as an innocent and friendly person, someone which Anna can become friends with. When she reveals her backstory, we can see that Marnie grew up innocently playing with Kazuhiko. When her parents are absent, however, it is revealed that her nun caretakers abuse her, often dragging her to an ominous silo as punishment. Her hair is combed in a painful way, giving new context to the shot when Marnie is first introduced.
- But Now I Must Go: During Anna and Marnie's last interaction, where Marnie asks for forgiveness.
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Marnie: "Anna, I cannot stay here any longer, I have to say goodbye to you. So please, Anna, I need to hear that you forgive me." |
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- Childhood Friend Romance: Marnie reveals that she marries her childhood friend Kazuhiko in her backstory.
- Childhood Friends: Marnie and Kazuhiko before the Childhood Friend Romance.
- Anna and Sayaka becomes this while investigating who Marnie really was.
- Coming of Age Story: The film focuses on Anna slowly gaining more self esteem through her interactions with Marnie, becoming a more confident person in the process.
- Conveniently Interrupted Document: Marnie's diary, so audiences do not prematurely find about Marnie going to the silo.
- Creative Closing Credits: The credits are imposed over a slideshow of backgrounds of the film, and it's very clear that Ghibli put a lot of work and effort into these backgrounds.
- Dead All Along: Marnie. Anna is only inserting herself into Marnie's diary entries.
- Dramatic Thunder: Occurs when Marnie, in her childhood, is being dragged up to the silo. Also occurs when Anna is accompanying Marnie to the silo to help her get over her fears.
- Dream Sequence: Anna has these of the mansion before meeting Marnie, identifiable by the foggy environment and slightly desaturated colours. In these sequences Anna is standing in the marsh in front of Marnie's mansion, and gazing into a window where Marnie is visible and having her hair stroked.
- Eating Lunch Alone: Alluded to in the lyrics of the Ending Theme, "Fine on the Outside".
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I like to eat in school by myself anyway, |
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- Establishing Character Moment: The first couple of scenes establish Anna's reclusive personality and low self esteem via an Opening Monologue, and how she refuses to show her painting to a nearby adult because she lacks confidence in her work. Similarly, Marnie is established as innocent and caring when she first meets Anna, and helps her dock her boat at the mansion.
- Face Your Fears: Marnie faces her fears by travelling to the silo she was scared off. In her childhood, she was accompanied by Kazuhiko. Anna, inserting herself as Kazuhiko within Marnie's story, accompanies Marnie from her perspective. Thus, Anna also has to face her fears to travel to the silo.
- Flyaway Shot: The last shot before the animated portion of the credits sequence, showing the Oiwas' house that Anna stayed in and the surrounding greenery.
- Foreign Language Theme: Despite being a Japanese film produced by a Japanese studio for the Japanese set in Japan, the ending song, "Fine on the Outside", is in English. Thus, The Song Remains the Same in the English dub.
- Foreshadowing: While Anna's clothes look like something worn in 2014, when the film was made, Marnie's clothes look distinctively older, like formal attire worn in the mid-1900s. This hints at how Marnie isn't from Anna's time period, and that she has been Dead All Along.
- Fostering for Profit: Subverted. Anna discovers that Yoriko has been receiving payments from the Government to look after her, the documents proving the fact being carefully hidden. Yoriko reveals that this isn't the case, and that the money is only there to help her, and that she genuinely wants to foster Anna. She reveals that she doesn't want Anna to find out about the payments, but never knew why.
- Ghibli Hills: The forest where Marnie and Anna forge for mushrooms.
- Ghibli Plains: A very frequent occurrence in long and wide shots of the film, given who made it, especially prominent around the Marsh House.
- Hands-On Approach: How Marnie teaches Anna to row, putting her hands over Anna's ones and going through the motions. This is not used for ship teasing, though, due to information presented with The Reveal.
- History Repeats: Marnie is left alone by her parents in an uncaring environment. She repeats the same mistake with her daughter Emily, sending her off for boarding school and ensuring that she again has absent parents. We are shown the consequences of the decision made by Marnie's parents in the form of the maids who abuse her. The consequences on Emily is only implied, as she walks past Marnie when she is being picked up. Fortunately, this cycle stops with Emily's daughter Anna, when Marnie learns from her past mistakes and looks after her with care. When Marnie dies, Anna is sent to the caring foster parent Yoriko.
- I'm Cold... So Cold...: Marnie says this stock phrase in the silo, due to the roaring wind and torrenting rain, although it is not meant to signal death.
- Intergenerational Friendship: The twelve year old Anna and the younger Sayaka forms one with Hisako, an adult woman. Anna promises to paint with her the next time they visit.
- Kimono Is Traditional: During the Tanabata festival many children, including Anna, wear a traditional Kimono.
- No Antagonist: As this is an internal, character driven conflict.
- Opening Monologue: Anna does this at the start of the film, explaining how she is an outsider and cannot fit into the existing social circles.
- Pinky Swear: Anna and Sayaka makes a pinky promise that they will keep in touch, and that Anna will visit the next summer.
- The Promise: Anna and Marnie make one, that they will remain a secret. This is mirrored with the Pinky Swear between Anna and Sayaka.
- The Reveal: When Anna discovers that Marnie is her grandmother, and that she has been inserting herself as Kazuhiko into Marnie's diary entries.
- Sailor Fuku: In the beginning of the film, Anna leaves her school bag and sketchbook at school. The girls who return them wears these.
- Scenery Porn: The film has many shots focused on green forests, the sky, or just a wide shot looking out into the distance. These shots often bring the already slow pacing to a standstill.
- Secondary Character Title: Marnie appears in the title despite Anna being the protagonist.
- Silence Is Golden: There are prolonged periods in the film where there are no dialogue or even music whatsoever, and the film shows you its lush world. In addition, the entire film can be described as quiet, with gentle music as well as soft and calming sound effects.
- Slice of Life: Scenes in Oiwa family's house, showing actions such as eating, writing a letter, cooking, or gardening. In addition, many slice of life elements, such as a biker passing by, are visible in the backgrounds of some shots.
- Tragic Keepsake: Marnie's picture of her mansion becomes a keepsake for Anna, reminding her of her grandma after she has died.
