Ghibli movies, ranked. Great tier Ghibli: 1. The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ) 2. Castle in the Sky (天空の城ラピュタ) 3. Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) 4. Nausicaä (風の谷のナウシカ) 5. Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫)
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First, The Hayao is responsible for all of the great tier and 3/5 movies from the good tier (and wrote the screenplay for the remaining two). Meanwhile, not-Hayaos are responsible for 6/8 movies from the okay and bad tiers. So I don't think Ghibli will survive his retirement.
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Second, there's a strong correlation between how serious and mature a movie is, and how high it lands in the ranking. Ghibli humor is generally not great. The fewer gags the better
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The Wind Rises is, in my opinion, The Hayao's best movie, and it's also his most mature creation (which he released at age 72). The Hayao is clearly not in touch with his inner child (see: Ponyo)
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Now, I understand that putting Ponyo in the bad tier may be controversial. Let me explain. Movies are like dishes: when they're bad, usually it's because of a bad cook or bad ingredients. Yet, Ponyo is prepared by a genius cook using pretty good ingredients. What happened?
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Ponyo suffers from conflicting goals. The Hayao is trying to make a fun movie for the 5-to-10 year-old crowd, and at the same time, to make a movie about death and humanity's relationship to nature -- an abstract movie full of deep symbolism. It might have worked, but it didn't.
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When you use symbolism, you have to follow two rules: 1. The story should stand on its own two feet even for those who understand none of the hidden meaning 2. All symbols should add a layer of meaning that reinforces the initial story and its message, not detract from it
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Ponyo fails on both counts. The story, taken literally, makes no sense. The symbolism, while occasionally profound (and profoundly ambiguous), makes the story even more confusing. There are some nice vignettes in there, but as movie, it's just not working
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I see it as The Hayao's only bad movie. Not bad because out mediocrity, but bad out of genius -- even a genius doesn't hit the target 100% of the time.
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End of conversation
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