In this haunting but lyrical animation done in stylized watercolors I would love to draw, I realized many things.......
The zinc-plate etchings I did in 1999, each one carefully stored on the shelves of my meditation room closet, are, like many of my other drawngs, more stylized and done in a way that would lend my hand to drawing Japanese anime. I live in the wrong country, and speak the wrong language for this...
Critic Roger Ebert's glowing review on the DVD extra, describes how, in Japanese poetry, there are 'pillow words' that link one image to the next, and as such, there are 'pillow moments' in this film: cutaways to gaze at the sunlight on the corner of a building, to watch a character adjust their clothing after a particularly difficult scene, pauses that do not tend to occur in more fast-paced American films and anime. Moments for contemplation and reflection, digestion and acceptance, or integration, if you will. Necessary moments, as these few weeks have been in my life, to process what has gone before...
The fireflies representing to me the thousands of directions in which my thoughts could go...thousands of directions my life could go...a sad movie, but filled with hope...no figs falling from Sylvia Plath's tree, but fireflies...sparks of inspiration...making chocolate...teaching yoga...drawing and watercoloring...my biggest loves. Expansive moments that come on the heels of the release of great pain. Tempting to do it all on my own like the boy Seita, but knowing I need more than a little help from my friends.
The little bonbon candy tin from Sakura is a unifying element in the thematic development. The original novel only describes it as a container for his sister's ashes, but the candies within were treasured by Japanese children through the war...
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