Giovanni's Island - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Giovanni's Island



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Being how badly Japan has suffered from wars over the last couple hundred years it’s not surprising to see them tackle the aftermath in ANOTHER animated film. However, this time it’s a bit more out of the norm to have them tackling the post WWII trauma rather than the war itself. Giovanni’s Island deals with the harrowing trials of going through a conflict like this from a child’s point of view, as well as the warmth of friendship and bonds that are formed during said emotional times. Giovanni’s Island is a sweet and emotional roller coaster of a film, and while I’m usually not the person to really get into these sappy war time dramas, I was truly hooked until the very end.

In 1945, brothers Junpei and Kanta live on an island with their uncle and father which is soon to be taken over by the Soviet forces during the latter days of the 2nd World War. Russian forces eventually invade, forcing Japan to spiral out of control again, and the brothers try to just buckle down and live their life like normal under the Soviet occupation. The Russians slowly begin to persecute and pressure the Japanese natives out of their homes, forcing the people to become a bit resourceful in how they live their lives, educate themselves, and feed their families. The adults in the island village try to make the best of a bad situation, and live in anger and fear over their lives being overturned, while Junpei and Kanta manage to befriend a Russian girl by the name of Tanya. In what seems like a relationship of pure opposites, the trio form a bond that defies reason, with each person having something to gain from the other’s completely opposite experiences in life.

The film is by no means light and airy, but it’s not super depressing and dark either. There’s some really intense and emotional moments throughout, such as their father being sent off to an internment camp, and eventually exile, and the boys have to deal with that in the form of a “magical” train that sort of distracts them from the pain that they’re dealing with. It’s not going to be a film that I would recommend to younger audiences for the most part (nothing gruesome or horrible happens, it’s just thematically geared towards older children and adults), but overall this is a sweet and rather endearing drama.

Another aspect to consider here is how different Giovanni’s Island is from the rest of Production I.G. offerings. We’re normally used to their cyber-punk Ghost in the Shell tales, or the Studio Ghibli style musings of Letter to Momo, so it’s nice to see them tackle a more down to earth and emotional story rather than fantasy and sci-fi. The studio absolutely dominates with the lush hand drawn characters and watercolor esque style backdrops, making it an absolutely GORGEOUS animated experience. They use a unique animation style that focuses on odd shapes to humans, with eyes placed where they “shouldn’t” be, and a sort of angular look that seems to change shape and form depending on the angle that you’re viewing the character from. It’s a bit abstract, but not so abstract as to take away from the viewing experience in any way, but simply stands out as personal “flair”.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

The Blu-ray looks really good, preserving the slightly soft and watercolor’d animation style perfectly. Angles and hand drawn lines look good, though the style of animation is not designed to really maximize fine details and super detailed backgrounds. Instead it focuses on a more blurred look (look at the grass to see what I’m talking about) and abstract style rather than be super sharp and detailed. There is some minor banding going on (especially with fade-aways and cuts) but overall this is a very clean and pretty transfer with a whole cornucopia of primary colors going on ranging from the soft blue of the ocean, to the bring and varied shades of green for the countryside grass.









Audio:

Shout Factory once again provides dual English/Japanese DTS-HD MA tracks that sound sonicly identical (no 2.0 tracks this go around though). Dialog is sharp and clean, with strong vocals in the center of the room and some very mild panning effects in the two mains. The score really adds the most weight and dynamics to the mix, with a very soft and flowing musical ability that shifts around the sound stage, and is complimented by the rabble of voices yelling in a town square, or the whispering of the grass in a field while Tanya and the boys interact. Bass is impressive considering it’s mostly complimentary to the score, but there are a few stand out moments where a Train or an explosion causes some good power to punch through.












Extras:

• The Making of Giovanni's Island: A random Journal
• Art Gallery
• Interwiew with actress Polina Ilyushenko
• "Troika"

Final Score: ​

Giovanni’s Island is a beautifully artistic film, dealing with pain, loss, suffering, and the emotional bonds that can form in a highly stressful environment. It’s sweet, cathartic, and at times genuinely troubling to watch. The movie will not appeal to the youngest of our generation as much, but older fans and adults will get a lot more out of the experience. The Shout Factory released Blu-ray looks and sounds great, and the extras are middle of the road quantity wise, but are densely packed in terms of quality. Very solid watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Yukie Nakama, Yusuke Santamaria, Tatyana Sharko
Directed by: Mizuho Nishikubo
Written by: Yoshiki Sakurai
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 102 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: February 21st, 2023

Recommendation: Very Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will check this out. Nothing beats "Grave Of The Fireflies".