(#2) The Garden of Words (2013) - [6/10]
Updated: Apr 8, 2019
A young high schooler meets a woman at a garden every time he visits during a rainy day.
How would I describe this film in one word?
Atmosphere.
Note
I'm not quite sure how to describe this short film. I'm not trying to be dramatic with that sentence, but I'm actually struggling to put together a critical analysis for this movie.
Review
It's a short film about how a young high schooler meets a woman at a garden every time he visits during a rainy day. The animation is apparently the most notable quality of this movie with it's stunning visuals raved by fans and critics alike. And I use the word apparently because I didn't find it to be unique. Sure, it's a technically beautiful visually, but isn't this what all anime looks like? [Edit: That is what I thought at first, but at second glance, man I was dead wrong. Maybe I just watched it in low resolution haha, but that is some seriously impressive beautiful art and I love rain atmospheres.] As for the story, I found out it to be an q concept being a person who loves the atmosphere of rain being portrayed in movies (my favorite movie setting up a rainy atmosphere being Seven - 1995) and also the concept of longing and patience. It seemed to have a lot going for it, but somewhere along the like, towards the middle when the rainy season ended and they shifted towards the girl's backstory, it didn't really captivate me as much as the initial 20 minutes or didn't feel relevant or interesting or even comprehensible. But nonetheless in the short time of 45 minutes, the movie still manages to develop a admirable chemistry between the characters.
RATING: 6/10
Director: Makoto Shinkai Rated: TV-14 Runtime: 46 min Genre: Animation, Drama, Romance Starring: Miyu Irino, Kana Hanazawa, Fumi Hirano