The mockery of more popular girls, the awkwardness of waiting for first menstruation, the cruel coldness of a father who refuses to allow her to participate in a semi-pro theatrical endeavor. Some funny and charming, but most of them sad and disturbing. On the train, Taeko relates and relives events from her childhood. accent (for those keeping track, Ridley is British and speaks with her native accent in this independent film called “The Force Awakens ” her costar in that film, John Boyega, also hails from England but speaks in that film with an American accent it’s called acting, in case this all worries you), muses on the soundtrack of the English-dubbed version. “ I didn’t expect to bring my fifth-grade self along for the trip,” Ridley, speaking with a U.S. Truth is, she has no actual close relatives there, but rather has signed up to help the family of her brother-in-law’s older brother in her destination to harvest safflowers. The movie begins with her telling a work colleague that she’s off to visit relatives in the countryside. Taeko is a 27-year-old single salarywoman in 1982 Tokyo. The main character is a kind of young Japanese everywoman, or everywoman nonconformist.

There’s no fantasy or supernatural element in the movie, but that’s not to say that it entirely eschews the fantastic.

“Only Yesterday” is a good companion piece for a number of reasons-like “Kaguya,” it functions as a highly sensitive and empathetic consideration of the situation of women in Japanese society-but it’s also a breathtaking work of art on its own. “Kaguya,” which Takahata announced would be the last film he would direct, was a kind of grand summation of his work in terms of both form and content. viewers wouldn’t necessarily associate with animation, for instance his 1988 World War II survival drama “ Grave of the Fireflies.” He’s also shown interest in expanding and changing up the aesthetic of anime, as in his 1999 “My Neighbors the Yamadas,” designed in the seemingly minimalist style of Japanese comic strips. Takahata’s work has been marked by a determination to take on stories that U.S. “Only Yesterday” is one of a very distinguished handful of feature films that Takahata directed for Studio Ghibli, the outfit founded by Takahata’s friend and frequent collaborator Hayao Miyazaki.

Only yesterday allen