Review of Suzume

"You see Suzume, no matter how sad you are right now, you are going to grow up" Makoto Shinkai has always been someone who has moved me immensely with his visuals, there is something so magical about his art, the mood it creates stays with you for a long time, but over his last few films he has evolved so much as a storyteller and a director and has created characters who have a lot of depth. 'Suzume' is perhaps Shinkai's most accessible film, it's entertaining from start to finish, it is perfectly paced and I did not feel the movie was lagging even once. Even withall the metaphors and symbolisms, it's light and easy to follow, It's got some really good action and chase sequences and it's often hilarious, infact I would say one of the most redmeeing factors of the movie is it's sense of humor, throughout it's 2 hour runtime it offers so many good laughs.

But even so, underneath all the warmth and tenderness, there is something so tragic about Suzume. Especially coming after the covid pandemic, it hits a little harder, about the trauma of the survivors, the dead who are forgotten due to calamities. So many kids have to grow up without parents and entire familes, which is why the climax hit so hard, it was like as if Suzume was talking directly to all these kids, I clenched my teeth so hard but I had to shed some tears. I think that's where Shinkai deserves so much more praise, he consistently delivers these kind of scenes where he is able to convey something so dark in a very subtle, light and hard hitting way, and through interesting means.

In the opening scene of Isao Takahata's 1988 masterpiece 'Grave Of The Fireflies', we see a station worker throw away a candy can containing the ashes of one of our protagonist, symbolizing how these kids are forgotten and cast away. After many years I've now seen Shinkai come somewhat close to that same impact about depicting forgotten people, although of course, 'Grave Of The Fireflies' is in a league of it's own and is the saddest movie I've ever seen.

'Suzume' is a superbly animated film with a great story. It's a moving adventure of Suzume, fighting for what she loves, meeting new people and coming to terms with her own trauma. It's another gem from Makoto Shinkai that deserves to be seen on the Big Screen.