Animation producer and director Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most important filmmakers and storytellers in the world today. Twenty five years ago he launched Studio Ghibli with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, the first of several masterworks that include Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. His new film is out later in the year.Back in 1995, Miyazaki produced a music clip for pop duo Chage & Asaka for their song On Your Mark. With this six minute work Miyazaki wanted to encapsulate the experience of an entire feature film. I think he succeeds and the result is this very satisfying and impressive short film.
Though On Your Mark originally played before Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart in its theatrical run it shouldn't be a surprise that it has been reverently placed and acknowledged within Miyazaki's and Studio Ghibli's canon of major works.
It certainly is one of the very best six minutes of self-contained cinema I've seen.
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