In general, I have seen most of Ghibli’s greatest films. I considered their best was My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away. But the studio have other gems that needed to be explored. Ghibli always provide an entertainment that I have never seen in other films; they were always pure, simple, connected to nature and adorable despite its oddness. I conclude myself that Ghibli films seems to neutralize all the wickedness and evil-themed movies out there ever made. I always feel the child in me awaken and take the adventures with the characters. I almost never have that in other films. And it doesn’t exclude Castle in The Sky (1986) or 天空の城ラピュタ Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta (retitled Laputa : Castle in The Sky in UK and Australia).
I’m not familiar yet to Gulliver’s Travel that said to be the influence of the movie’s theme, but the concept of a floating castle deep in the sky was extraordinary. The travel and theme reminded me of Up, where the lead always have a dream to explore with his spouse and finally go by himself and his floating house. It seems that this floating castle is like an ultimate destination for travelers mostly, their biggest dream to explore. Much like Pazu’s father in the film.
The earth speaks to all of us, and if we listen, we can understand.The story starts when Sheeta, a teen girl, tried to escape from a blimp after a group of pirates and men tried to kidnap her. But Sheeta accidentally falls from the blimp and catched by Pazu, a teen boy who worked in a steam factory. Pazu takes care of her and treated her like his family. Sheeta and Pazu become friends and connected quickly over Laputa, a floating castle in the sky. Sheeta owns a necklace that several people want to steal to take advantage, while Pazu try all he can to save her. Their adventure takes them eventually to what they are searching for.
Seventy five percent of the movie is about Sheeta getting chased by some people that want to take advantage of her necklace. It’s also about the easy friendship between her and Pazu. Both of them blessed by a kind nature. Sheeta is naive and helpless, while Pazu is helpful and high spirited. I’m a little confused on how Sheeta seem to know/don’t know about her power but knows about her roots and Laputa. There’s missing link here, or left unexplained. But there’s an amazing philosophy on how the necklace will be good if cast with good spells and otherwise, and how Sheeta’s grandmother taught her not only good spells but also the destructive spells. An amazing balance there.
The real ‘treasure’ in this movie was in fact the castle in the sky, which appeared near the ending of the movie. The architechture (said inspired by Welsh mining town) was amazing. Somewhere between a nature-friendly, futuristic but classic designs, such a breathtaking concept (and featured in a simple 2D animated films, is a real plus). I remembered watching Akira and Metropolis, both managed to create such futuristic image in their time therefore making amazing impression. But Laputa was more of a futuristic-marries-nature, I’ve never seen anything like it before. I also amazed with the robot, also is a futuristic creature but end up being nature-friendly. I love how Castle in The Sky blurred the evil/cold side of futuristic image with marrying them to nature. Actually, lots of flying transportation in this movie was quite extraordinary, thinking that it was released in the ’80s, preferrably the pirates family’s flying transportations.
It’s not the least Ghibli movie I like, with it’s simplicity and mind blowing castle. Castle in The Sky is definitely a gem, a must-see for architechture lovers and also for you who enjoy a simple film. The voice overs of Anna Paquin and James Van der Beek surely added good enough mix to the film. In the end, it’s evil versus good side. If you’re wise, you’ll know which to pick and treat the mother nature likewise.
Final Score :
