Whisper of the Heart (film)

Whisper of the Heart
Japanese film poster
Directed by	Yoshifumi Kondō
Produced by	Toshio Suzuki
Screenplay by	Hayao Miyazaki
Based on	Whisper of the Heart by Aoi Hiiragi
Starring	Yoko Honna Issei Takahashi Shigeru Muroi Takashi Tachibana Keiju Kobayashi
Music by	Yūji Nomi
Cinematography	Atsushi Okui
Editing by	Takeshi Seyama
Studio	Studio Ghibli
Distributed by	Japan: Toho North America: Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	July 15, 1995 (1995-07-15)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Whisper of the Heart (耳をすませば, Mimi o Sumaseba, lit. "If you listen closely") is a 1995 Japanese animated drama film based on the manga of the same name by Aoi Hiiragi. It was directed by Yoshifumi Kondō and written by Hayao Miyazaki. It was the first theatrical Studio Ghibli feature to be directed by someone other than Miyazaki or Takahata, and the only film to be directed by Yoshifumi Kondō, who died in 1998 of a ruptured aneurysm at the age of 47. Studio Ghibli had hoped that Kondō would become the successor to Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.

Plot

Schoolgirl Shizuku Tsukishima lives in Tokyo with her parents Asako and Seiya. She reads a lot of books and is keen on writing. One evening, she looks through the checkout cards in her library books. She notices they have all been checked out by the same person - someone named Seiji Amasawa. Over the next few days, Shizuku encounters a tall boy she does not know: he behaves in an annoying manner, and leaves her in a bad mood each time.

Shizuku finds a cat riding a train: she follows the cat, and discovers an antique shop, run by Shiro Nishi. At the shop is a cat statuette, "The Baron." The tall boy is the grandson of Nishi. Shizuku's friend Yuko Harada is interested in Sugimura, a sports-playing boy in the same class as the girls. Sugimura unknowingly offends Yuko, as he has no idea Yuko likes him. At a temple, Shizuku argues with Sugimura. But Sugimura reveals that it is Shizuku he likes: impossible, as Yuko is Shizuku's best friend.

Depressed, she heads to the antique shop. While there, she learns the tall boy and Seiji Amasawa are the same person: Shizuku and Seiji become close. But Seiji is learning to make violins: he wants to become a master luthier. Days after the two meet, Seiji leaves for Cremona, Italy, for a two month trial with a master violin-maker. Shizuku is depressed but resolute: she wants to test her talents, too. Talking with Yuko, she decides to pursue her writing seriously during the two months. She asks Nishi if she can write about The Baron, which once had a female companion statuette, Louise.

Shizuku begins to narrate her story as she walks home, and the first of three surrealist fantasy sequences featuring The Baron tells the story she is writing. Shizuku devotes her time to her writing: she eats snack food, stays up until 4:00AM and her school grades drop. In the second fantasy sequence, we learn about Louise, and the fairytale's villain arrives. Shizuku, her older sister Shiho, and Seiya and Asako argue over Shizuku's grades. Shizuku dreams the final part of her story but it turns into a nightmare. Meanwhile, Nishi dreams about the lost love of his youth arriving at his door. The dream finishes, and the real Shizuku arrives at his door: her story is complete and she is delivering the manuscript to Nishi.

After Nishi reads Shizuku's writing, she breaks down in tears. He consoles her with noodles, explaining that Seiji needed considerably more noodles after Seiji made his first violin. Nishi reveals to Shizuku that he and his first love, Louise, were students in Germany; they discovered the cat statuettes in a cafe. The two young people and the two cat statuettes were separated during World War II.

Shizuku decides she wants to attend high school to learn more about writing. Nishi drives her home and she tells Asako her trials are over "for now." The next morning, she discovers Seiji below on his bike. He has returned a day early, and indeed, he is going to go to Cremona to become a luthier. They ride his bike to a lookout and watch the sun rise over Tokyo, where Seiji proposes future marriage to Shizuku and profess his love for her.

Cast

• Yōko Honna as Shizuku Tsukishima (月島 雫, Tsukishima Shizuku), a 14-year-old junior high school student. In the English version, Shizuku was voiced by Brittany Snow.
• Issei Takahashi as Seiji Amasawa (天沢 聖司, Amasawa Seiji), a luthier and violin player attending the same school as Shizuku Tsukishima. In the English version, Seiji was voiced by David Gallagher.
• Maiko Kayama as Yuko Harada (原田 夕子, Harada Yūko), Shizuku Tsukishima's friend at her school. In the English version, Yuko was voiced by Ashley Tisdale.
• Yoshimi Nakajima as Sugimura (杉村), Yuko Harada's crush and Shizuku's friend. In the English version, Sugimura was voiced by Martin Spanjers.
• Shigeru Tsuyuguchi as Baron Humbert von Jikkingen (フンベルト・フォン・ジッキンゲン男爵, Funberuto Fon Jikkingen Danshaku), a statue from Germany belonging to Shiro Nishi. In the English version, the Baron was voiced by Cary Elwes.
• Takashi Tachibana as Seiya Tsukishima (月島 靖也, Tsukishima Seiya), a librarian and father of Shizuku Tsukishima. In the English version, Seiya was voiced by James Sikking.
• Shigeru Muroi as Asako Tsukishima (月島 朝子, Tsukishima Asako), a graduate student and mother of Shizuku and Shiho Tsukishima. In the English version, Asako was voiced by Jean Smart.
• Keiju Kobayashi as Shiro Nishi (西 司朗, Nishi Shirō), the owner of a local antique shop. In the English version, Nishi was voiced by Harold Gould.
• Yorie Yamashita as Shiho Tsukishima (月島 汐, Tsukishima Shiho), Shizuku's older sister and a college student. In the English version, Shiho was voiced by Courtney Thorne-Smith.
• Minami Takayama as Kōsaka-sensei (高坂先生), a nurse at Shizuku's school.
• Mayumi Iizuka as Kinuyo (絹代), a friend of Shizuku Tsukishima. In the English version, Kinuyo was voiced by Mika Boorem.
• Mai Chiba as Nao (ナオ), another friend of Shizuku Tsukishima. In the English version, Nao was voiced by Abigail Mavity.

Producer Toshio Suzuki and artist Naohisa Inoue provide the single lines of dialogue spoken by the two musician friends of Nishi. These two characters are unnamed in the original, but in the English version their names are given as Kita (北) and Minami (南) (meaning "North" and "South" in Japanese - Nishi means "West").

Production

During production, the backgrounds in the fantasy sequences of the film were drawn by Naohisa Inoue and the woodcut of the imprisoned violin-maker was created by Miyazaki's son Keisuke Miyazaki, a professional engraver. Japanese musical duo Chage and Aska's short music video, titled "On Your Mark", by Studio Ghibli was released along with Whisper of the Heart.

Music

The film score of Whisper of the Heart was composed by Yuji Nomi. Throughout the film, Shizuku creates translations of John Denver's song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" into Japanese for her school's chorus club. She also writes her own humorous Japanese version of the song, called "Concrete Road," about her hometown in western Tokyo. The songs were actually translated by producer Toshio Suzuki's daughter Mamiko with Hayao Miyazaki writing supplemental lyrics. These songs play a role at various points in the story. A recording of "Take Me Home, Country Roads", performed by Olivia Newton-John, plays during the film's opening sequence. The song was also performed by Shizuku's voice actress Yoko Honna.

Release

This was the first Japanese film to use the Dolby Digital sound format. An English dub of this film was released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment on March 7, 2006. Turner Classic Movies televised both the dubbed and subbed versions on January 18, 2006 as part of their month-long celebration of Miyazaki (in honor of his birthday, January 5). The English title, Whisper of the Heart, was created by Studio Ghibli and used on several officially licensed "character goods" released around the same time as the film was released in theaters in Japan.

Reception

Whisper of the Heart was the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1995, earning ¥1.85 billion in distribution income. Whisper of the Heart received very positive reviews from film critics. It has an 89% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 9 reviews with an average rating of 7.4/10 Terry Gilliam included Whisper of the Heart in his Top 50 Animated Film list.

In response to negative comments regarding the film's ending, general producer and screenwriter Hayao Miyazaki defended the film, saying that it was his idea and stated that he wanted the two characters to "commit to something."

Spin-off

Over the course of the film, Shizuku is working on a fantasy novel that revolves around a cat figurine, named The Baron, which she discovers in Mr. Nishi's antique store. In 2002, Studio Ghibli produced a spin-off film The Cat Returns, directed by Hiroyuki Morita and again featuring The Baron in the film.

External links

• Whisper of the Heart at the Internet Movie Database
• Whisper of the Heart (film) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Whisper of the Heart at Nausicaa.net