Whisper of the Heart
Mimi wo sumaseba
Japan
1995
105 Min
Color
1.85:1
Japanese
Synopsis
A young girl finds that all the books she chooses in the library have been previously checked out by the same boy. Later she meets a very infuriating fellow… could it be her “friend” from the library? The boy’s grandfather has a violin sales and service shop. The boy wants to be a violin maker like his grandfather. —IMDb
Director
Yoshifumi Kondô
Yoshifumi Kondō (近藤 喜文 Kondō Yoshifumi?, March 31, 1950 – January 21, 1998) was a Japanese animator who worked for Studio Ghibli in his last years. He was born in Gosen, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He worked as an animation director on Anne of Green Gables, Sherlock Hound, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Only Yesterday and Princess Mononoke. Kondō directed the animated film Whisper of the Heart, and was expected to become one of the top directors at Studio Ghibli, alongside Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and to become their eventual successor.
Kondō died of an aneurysm in 1998. His death is said to have been caused by excess work, and seems to be the main reason for Hayao Miyazaki’s announcement of retirement in 1998. Although in the end Miyazaki didn’t retire, Kondō’s death seems to have influenced Miyazaki to work at a more relaxed pace. —Wikipedia
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Displaying 4 of 23 wall posts.
Arrietty
30Mar13
I just love it. I love how Ghibli takes this completely corny and cliche stories and tell them with simple yet amazing language and it carries this simple but important message and you just have to love it.
chanandre and Singha Song like this
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Singha Song
10Apr13
Ah I feel the same, just adore all SG films but especially this one. There's something so special about it
Phil Worfel
16Sep12
It's about as down to earth as Ghibli gets and yet is and incredible picture of the growth of two artists at the very beginning of their journey. I doubt I have seen it portrayed better anywhere else. The film could be faulted for edging into "on-the-nose" territory but in my opinion never goes too far. Would be a great double bill with "The Horse's Mouth".
BUSHRA likes this
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Articles
Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
Ghibli Retrospective: The Kids Talk WHISPER OF THE HEART
By Twitchfilm.com on March 16, 2012
Twitch is certainly not the youngest of movie websites, and a number of the writing staff have children that are old enough to understand and consume media in a way that is both raw and fresh, but also
WHISPER OF THE HEART UK BluRay review
By Twitchfilm.com on January 10, 2012
Yoshifumi Kondō’s Whisper of the Heart is undeniably a magical film, despite there being maybe ten minutes of anything fantastical on screen throughout the entire running time (none of which is actually
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Reviews
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Well Developed Story with John Denver Song as Theme
By Byron Brubaker on March 11, 2013
It feels odd to hear John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (evidently during the opening credits performed by Olivia Newton-John) right from the start. A pop song about West Virginia introducing… read review
Utterly pedestrian
By josiahduke on April 3, 2010
I’d heard many good things about this film from friends and others and I finally decided to give it a look. And quite frankly, I don’t see much to love here. If someone could enlighten me beyond vague… read review
Untitled
By Acerk21 on July 8, 2009
“Whisper of the Heart” is without a doubt my favorite film from Studio Ghibli and one of my personal favs as well. Produced by the great Hayao Miyazaki and directed by his apprentice Yoshifumi Kondo… read review
Untitled
By Josh Tierney on June 20, 2009
Well, it’s finally on theauteurs — what I personally consider the greatest film ever made. Every single aspect of it is perfect, from the animation that mimics human behaviour more realistically than… read review
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