[CRITIQUE DVD] THE GARDEN OF WORDS

At the same time to the cinema release of the highly anticipated last Miyazaki (THE WIND RISES) who reigns supreme in the realm of japanese animation for several decades, the edition of the DVD THE GARDEN OF WORDS by Makoto Shinkai, despite its 46 minutes, pulls it brilliantly to his pin of the game. The young japanese director (40 years old) had already been noticed in France with 5CM PER SECOND and JOURNEY TO AGARTHA. Here, he recounts the encounter between a young student, apprentice shoemaker, whose dream is to create shoes, and a mysterious woman in a japanese garden by rainy day.

The plot tells the story month after month and follows the subsequent meetings of the two characters in the same sequence : the encounter takes place in the same place, always a day of rain, and while one finds there the inspiration for his sketches, the other woman seeming to désœuvrée – there is an odd pause between beer and chocolate. We were witnessing the first shoots of these two beings that can feel both hopeful, melancholy, but also of naivete. Unfortunately, the love story quickly takes shortcuts and feelings explode on the way to be a caricature of a cartoon for kids. One wonders then why so much enthusiasm to talk about the GARDEN OF WORDS. The interest lies primarily in the aesthetic to the stunning designs and the mastery of the filmmaker to immerse his film in a poetic, almost dreamlike and yet very much rooted in the real.

We follow Takao and Yukino between this japanese garden kind of oasis of greenery in the middle of the city, their apartment respective, one living with his brother, but also the train journeys that lead the young apprentice to this meeting place that seems to carry all his hopes. Takao lives for these days of rain where he can find his muse. The drawings are so realistic, sometimes disturbing and nature, omnipresent in the scenes in the garden, is rendered in all its glory. In addition, a poetry ambient assisted by the soundtrack to the sounds of the classics.

It remains, however, a plot parallel to the plot sentimental which leaves a bit of suspense to the film and gives an answer to the reasons of their presence in this garden. Why the title the GARDEN OF WORDS ? An allusion to the poem spoken by Yukino, looking up at Takao. They help each other but the rain will stop and disrupt their ritual.

You could almost see in this film a sort of fairy tale japanese of modern times, the young student creating the shoes for his charming princess that he will come out of the disarray.

THE FILM

[rating:7/10]

Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped classes, and designs shoes in a japanese-style garden. There, he meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Subsequently, and without meeting you, they begin to see themselves again and again but only on rainy days. They eventually work together to discuss and open the one to the other. But the end of the rainy season is approaching…

• Original title : Koto no ha no niwa

• Achievement : Makoto Shinkai

• Screenplay : Makoto Shinkai

• Voice VO : Miyu Irino, Kana Indies, Fumi Hirano, Gou Maeda, Yuka Terasaki, Suguru Inoue

• Country of origin : Japan

• Output : 8 January 2014 (DVD)

• Duration : 46 minutes

• Distributor : Kazé

• Trailer :

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• Publisher : Kazé

• Distributor : Kazé

• Number of disc(s) : 1

• Format : DVD-9

• Case : Keep Case

• Bitrate : –

• Authoring : –

• Video Format : 1.85

• Zone : 2

• Standard : PAL

• Image : Color

• Audio : Dolby digital French 5.1, japanese 5.1

• Sub-titles : French

• Deaf and hard of hearing : None

• Supplements

– Kaze + movie trailers videos, VOD manga and clips videos

THE DVD

[rating:5/10]

The bonus Kaze+ offer little interest apart from to find new ideas to complement its collections of VOD manga published by the same distributor. Nothing to say visual side and the soundtrack is more than satisfactory.