Makoto Shinkai breaks his silence on the inspiration behind Suzume no Tojimari
Following the box-office success of his recent magnum opus, Suzume no Tojimari, Makoto Shinkai finally broke his silence behind the film's inspiration. While acknowledging Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli as his sources of inspiration, he expressed annoyance at being addressed as "the next Miyazaki."
He revealed all this in two interviews with Looper news, one during the film's premiere and the other at BFI Southbank on March 1. There, Shinkai expressed the roots of Japanese culture, his own experiences, and the cultural influences on his way of work. The famous director also humorously referred to the various Easter Eggs in the film, which paid homage to his idol.
Makoto Shinkai hints at the major source of inspiration behind his filmmaking and especially Suzume no Tojimari
The fact that Ghibli had a great impact on Suzume will hardly come as a surprise to fans, especially as Shinkai and Miyazaki are commonly regarded as two of the greatest anime filmmakers both inside Japan and beyond. Their names are often spoken of in the same breath, and Shinkai's films even pay homage to Miyazaki's filmography.
Opening up about his work, Shinkai said:
"The effect of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli is not unique to [Suzume]. A large part of why I became an animation director is because of what Studio Ghibli has achieved over the years. Whether it's a conscious decision or a subconscious decision, there are certain effects that the studio had on my own works."Following the international success of his work, he then went on to speak about specific instances of the same by explaining:
"Specific to Suzume, I've paid certain homages to Ghibli films. For example, when Suzume is travelling in the car, [you can hear the] Kiki's Delivery Service theme song, [Rouge Message]. That's the same theme song that Kiki listened to in the opening of Kiki's Delivery Service."The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred in real life but also in Suzume's world, is a really difficult issue that the characters are dealing with in the movie. Hence, the director wanted to make Suzume's world virtually an extension of the audience's own reality by incorporating these Easter eggs into the story.
To bridge the two realities, inside the brilliantly animated world of the inhabitants of Suzume no Tojimari and the world outside, Shinkai said:
"I would argue most if not all of the Japanese population, and younger kids especially, saw Ghibli films. So they would've seen Kiki's Delivery Service in the same way that in the film Suzume [has] seen that movie. Saying that Ghibli exists inside the world of Suzume brings her world much closer to our own reality and makes that very relatable."Makoto Shinkai's other comments on Suzume no Tojimari
Shinkai expresses how the boy-meets-girl trope that the movie employs does not exist for its own sake as a simple romance but as a means to explore the trauma associated with a world fraught with disaster, aka the Great Earthquake.
The director added that Suzume’s aunt was the character he felt closest to, as these fictional characters’ bonds tugged on his own heartstrings while remembering his 12-year-old daughter.
The idea of runaway characters, too, derived from his own childhood. In Suzume no Tojimari, the escaping characters’ mental states would be a manifestation of his own childhood desire to traverse the bordering mountains and explore a different future.
Makoto Shinkai concluded by talking about the diverse but mostly positive responses from the people who watched Suzume no Tojimari and had an opinion about the Tohoku setting. While some were offended, most of them thanked him.
“And what many of them said was “Thank you” – they thanked me for making this film. And they said there were things in [the film] that they’d needed to hear. I actually found that they were encouraging me, which was a lovely experience.”The film’s global success can be attributed to its breathtaking animation, engaging storyline, and quirky moments sprinkled throughout to lighten the serious and often-realistic moods. In India, Suzume no Tojimari shattered previous box office records.
The movie’s amazing INR 6.95 crore in revenue has been gathered in just ten days since its domestic release and set a new record. Meanwhile, worldwide, the movie has made $9.73 million since its release on April 12.
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