Greetings gentle readers and welcome to another installment of the Sunday Morning Movie. Today it’s a beautiful anime, Night on the Galactic Railroad:
and here’s next week’s offering, Haxan:
https://youtu.be/Jl6NvqUM5IM?si=HfOMexYQYnfn0Oa-
Reviews for Night on the Galactic Railroad:
My Anime List says:
This is a movie for dreamers. That’s as simple as I can state it. It evokes strong interest and emotion from the viewer. I was on the edge of my seat. It is paced much like an odyssey-traveling along an ever changing magical landscape that you feel you are becoming part of. The artwork has a simplistic beauty that is extremely pleasing to the eye. There is a feeling of drama and intensity all throughout, even in the smallest of scenes you feel as if you are on the verge of-something, something big. This movie is for the fantasy, fairytale and visual experience fans.
…
and
This is one of the most atmospheric movies I’ve seen in awhile. It’s very abstract, the animation and character design is very well done, especially for its age. This story stresses on friendship and makes you reflect on life. It impacted me very emotionally at the end, and there were many scenes I did not expect at all. The music, especially, was very well placed, and pleasing to the ear. Overall, this is the kind of movie I would love to show to all of my friends.
TheNorm says:
On the surface, Night on the Galactic Railroad sounds like your standard magical coming-of-age adventure with hints of philosophical undertones, and, for the most part, it is. However, what isn’t entirely clear until about halfway through the film (or for anyone unfamiliar with the source material, like I wasn’t) are themes of self-sacrifice, concepts of the afterlife, and the power of friendship and platonic love. The film is a slow-burning exploration of all these themes and ideas presented through child logic and symbolism: some fascinating, some religious, and all gorgeously presented.
Letterboxd says:
Taking a ride on a cosmic train, an unforgettable journey to the end of the universe and back. An incredibly special film, so quietly comforting, simple and profound.
Imagine the ethereal beauty and melancholy of the train journey in Spirited Away, stretched out for an entire film – with the legendary Haruomi Hosono providing the same integral emotional foundation that Joe Hisaishi does. Time to go hug my friends.
My take: A surreal beauty of a film. The meaning of it all is a bit fuzzy but that’s ok, I think it’s supposed to trigger reflective moods as opposed to offering concrete answers. The artwork is lush and trippy, a little weed would really go a long way here. One note: a lot of commenters on the review sites I read went on about the gay relationship between the two main characters. I think this is a mistake, the movie is (in part) about platonic love, a concept that seems to have fallen from favor in these times. I’m awarding it ⭐⭐’s, definitely worth seeing again.
Director: Gisaburo Sugii
Writers: Minoru Betsuyaku, Adapted from the novel by Kenji Miyazawa
Plot (Spoilers!):
Giovanni is one unhappy cat. He works after school to make household ends meet. His mother is sick and his father is far away for work. His classmates are cruel to him.
While resting in a field at night and contemplating the Milky Way, he is swept up into a mystical train ride. Strange characters literally materialize before him. Strange locations are his to explore. A new friend joins him on his journey.
Giovanni will learn many things on his trip. He will learn the power of the spiritual. He will learn the joys friendship. And he will learn of the fruits of making the world a better place for others.
7 comments
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Minor detail: you have it twice as “Night on the Galactic Train” when it is Railroad not Train.
Doh! Thank you!
This is the sort of film that redeems anime in my eyes. (Pun intended?)
The “original” reason for “trippyness,” going back millennia, is to awaken the ‘inner eye’ of the participants. To be “trippy” does indeed partake of the lnfinite, if done properly. Good art aims to this high standard. (Bloody subconscious puns!)
his is good art on many levels.
Thanks for the recommendation. I would never have experienced it otherwise.
I have “Haxen” on DVD. An example of the possibilities of film.
Stay safe.
It’s a true friendship story. Music is well suited. I just can’t believe the Symphony of the New World… Just crazy.
Thank you for the movie. I am moved.
Thank you. This is a very unusual, profound, and beautiful anime. The gensaku is quite well-known in Japan — kind of a children’s story — though in the novel Giovanni and Campanella are boys, not anthropomorphic cats.
After school, we see Giovanni doing arubaito in a print shop, and the written language that appears here and elsewhere in the anime is Esperanto, being a shout out to author Miyazawa Kenji’s interest in the language. The title of the anime is thus Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo.
The motif of the railroad traveling in space might have originated in Georges Méliès’ celebrated Le Voyage à travers l’impossible (1904), but in any case it is probably Miyazawa’s novel that made it widely influential in Japanese popular culture, e.g., Matsumoto Leiji’s Galaxy Express 999, and the whole Densha otoko media mix.
The excellent soundtrack to Nokto de la Galaksia Fervojo was composed by Hosono Haruomi, of YMO fame — really perfect for the atmosphere of this anime. Speaking of YMO and movies, the late Takahashi Yukihiro had the leading role as the funky “Fanta G” in Obayashi Nobuhiko’s final film, Labyrinth of Cinema (2019) — a delirious and mind-bending anti-war masterpiece.
Thanks sl! Sent the link to our daughter, she was raised on anime (mostly Studio Ghibli), but I don’t think she has seen this one.
I have one to suggest for the future – The Lathe of Heaven.
This is another one I really like, but apparently it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. My wife was mad at me for suggesting it after we watched it together, lol. I really like how dreamy it is though, the scene with the crane-catcher on the star is particularly beautiful.
I haven’t read the story it’s based on, but I read a little about it & the author. There’s a lot of religious symbolism, some Christian, but apparently the religious subtext is that the author (represented by Giovanni) was actually a devoted Nichiren Buddhist while his best friend (Campanella) was a Pure Land follower, which explains the ending some.