“Princess Mononoke” (see news photo), “My Neighbor Totoro”, “The Castle in the Sky” – even if you’re not a fan of anime or fantasy, you’ve probably heard of these titles. They were all directed by lead director Hayao Miyazaki for cult animation studio Ghibli. And that same Hayao Miyazaki is now coming out of temporary retirement with a new movie called How Do You Live?, and with a level of secrecy that would make even Marvel and Star Wars jealous.
Because how reported that there will be no promo for How Do You Live? No trailers or images will be released before the movie hits theaters – such a giant cinema secret has long ceased to exist. The audience should get involved in the anime without any prior knowledge. If you look at Hayao Miyazaki’s previous work, at least one thing is quite likely: we can expect a strong, impressively illustrated film – if not a masterpiece.
“How do you live?” does not need ads
Of course these are words of praise in advance, but the Studio Ghibli really deserves them. But it’s not just the confidence in one’s own abilities and the magnetic effect of the Hayao Miyazaki name on the public that led those responsible to take the unusual step of not advertising “How Do You Live?”.
On the one hand, they just wanted to try “something different” this timesays producer Toshio Suzuki in an interview with the Japanese magazine (through ). “Doing the same thing over and over again will make you tired.” Mainly because you “don’t have to do it,” says Suzuki — key word: confidence. On the other hand, you want to give moviegoers a fresh cinema experience.
Trailers reveal too much
If multiple trailers were released for a movie, audiences would already know most of the story from them. “There must be people who just don’t want to go back to the movie after seeing all the trailers. So this time I wanted to do the opposite,” says Suzuki, who also cites an exciting, very personal motivation to minimize marketing.
There is already a publication for “How Do You Live?”, namely a poster. Toshio Suzuki, who has worked on Ghibli films since 1984’s Nausicaä, is being praised directly by Hayao Miyazaki himself for the first time. “He said, ‘Suzuki-san, this is incredible. This is the best poster you’ve ever made.’ [weiter nach dem Bild]
Suzuki continues: “It was a nod to me, I decided that this time we would just do the marketing with this one poster. So no trailers or TV ads… no newspaper ads either. And deep down I think moviegoers secretly want that too.”
When is “How do you live?” to the movies?
“How do you live?will be released in Japanese cinemas on July 14, 2023. No start dates are currently known for other countries. Until now, rumors have been circulating on the internet that the film could be loosely based on Genzaburo Yoshino’s 1937 coming-of-age novel of the same name, one of Hayao Miyazaki’s favorite books. Suzuki said in an interview that Miyazaki “just borrowed the title”. The synopsis of the film circulating online may therefore be incorrect – whether this is true or not will likely remain a secret until the film’s official release.
How much the movies of Hayao Miyazaki by the way are also appreciated in our FILMSTARTS community, shows the list of the highest rated fantasy movies on our site. Three (!) works by Miyazaki made it to the top ten of the user rankings, dominating the first ten places together with Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy:
Author: Annemarie Havran
Source : Film Starts
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
