Cert U
92 mins
BBFC advice: Contains no material likely to harm or offend
"I need to leave now because I have watch a Japanese cartoon.... and I'm not kidding.''
Friends of ours were in Nottingham for the weekend for a 50th birthday celebration but I had to make my excuses and nip off to Broadway for a couple of hours.
The reason was that From Up On Poppy Hill was only being shown in afternoons this week and Saturday provided the only opportunity for me to see it.
So I bade them a temporary Sayonara and took in Goro Miyazaki's superbly charming movie.
And ever since I have been whistling Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto, the biggest Japanese hit ever in the western charts.
Sukiyaki came out in 1963, around the same time that From Up On Poppy Hill is based and is played twice on its soundtrack.
It's a song which, in my head, creates a warm and nostalgic feeling. It was just one of the strands which make this Studio Ghibli movie work so well.
The film surrounds Umi (Masami Nagasawa), a bright young girl with big household responsibilities since her father died on a ship in the Korean war and mother left to work in America.
Despite the pressures of running her house on Poppy Hill, Umi is also popular at school and is taking an active part in trying to save the clubhouse from demolition in advance of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
There she falls in love with Shun (Junichi Okada), a go-getting lad who is at the forefront of the campaign.
However, history dictates that theirs isn't an easy path.
Ghibli animations are simply beautiful and From Up On Poppy Hill is no exception. Its story is enchanting without being infantile and so it can be appreciated by children and adults alike.
I shall write no more for fear of spoiling it.
Broadway screened the subtitled Japanese version. I am aware there is also an American-dubbed one around. Either way, go watch and enjoy.
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8/10