A Letter To Momo was released on Blu-ray and DVD on Oct 21 by Cinedigm/Gkids.
After directing the critically acclaimed dark anime film Jin-roh (1999), Hiroyuki Okiura expressed a desire to create something that would resonate with viewers in a new and different way. It wasn’t until over a decade later that his follow-up, A Letter To Momo, finally released in Japan in 2011. Unlike other films on which he had previously worked, he wrote the screenplay for this personal film. And unlike Jin-roh, which bored me to tears (figuratively), A Letter To Momo moved me to tears (literally).
We meet Momo, an 11-year-old girl, as she travels by ferry with her mother. Their destination is their new home — a return to her mother’s hometown on the island of Shio in the Seto Inland Sea region. One might expect a feeling of excitement as they make their journey, but we can see that the trip is not a happy one for Momo.
As they settle into a new home owned by some elderly friends of her mother, Momo has trouble adjusting. She’s lonely in the house while her mother goes to work, and is too shy and socially uncomfortable to connect with the local kids who want to befriend her.
We soon learn the story behind these changes in Momo’s life. Her father recently died. Worse, she left things in a bad place with Dad. Their last interaction was an argument where she stormed out after telling him she hated him. Wracked with guilt, she carries this burden with her, of a terrible deed which can never be retracted. But something else bothers her, too. After her father’s passing, she found a letter that he had begun writing to her after their last meeting. But he was unable to put in to words whatever he intended to say, and the pad was left blank, saying only, “Dear Momo”. This unfinished letter unsettles her, as she wishes with that she might see this final communication, but also gives her relief in knowing that things didn’t simply end where she left them.
The film really does an amazing job of putting the viewer in the shoes of a sad 11-year-old girl. We see her listlessness and feel her regret in all her subtle actions. She really loved her Dad a lot, and it eats her up inside that he took those harsh words, said in anger, to his grave. One scene I really connected with depicts her laying on her back, listlessly drawing up her knees and pushing herself across the floor like an inchworm. It’s such an authentic portrayal of real behavior that just speaks volumes. Likewise, her inability to socialize with the local kids — who are actually really nice — tells a lot about her inner state.
Things pick up for Momo when some weird happenings start to occur in the house and around the neighborhood. She discovers three Yokai — what we might call imps, or benevolent monsters — are living in the attic and following her around town. Initially terrified, she soon comes into direct contact with them. The Yokai befriend her, and together they create a great deal of havoc and mischief as the selfish monsters aren’t exactly well-behaved. The Yokai help her to open up and try to be a kid again, and the balance of the film is about her healing process and realizing that in her grief over her father, she has been taking things out on her mother.
The film wisely shows us the way that Momo’s mother deals with her own grief. Outwardly she tries to remain upbeat for the benefit of her daughter, but inwardly she also deals with her own turmoil. When Momo isn’t around, she weeps in secret and gazes longingly at their photo albums. Momo misinterprets her mother’s cheerful demeanor as a lack of love or respect for Dad, when in fact it’s just a brave face that hides a scared woman with a broken heart.
Visually, the film is quite pretty. The Inland Sea is a real region of Japan, and the film really uses the environment, drawing directly from reality: docks and alleys, old fashioned villages with quaint shops, terraced farms which snake up the mountainous slopes, long distance bridges which connect the islands, and even a violent tropical storm. One of the bonus features on the disc is a movie-themed tourist ad for the area, and it’s absolutely relevant because this is a place that the film makes me want to go visit. Even though it’s animated, you get a clear sense of the place. The film’s visual style is realistic, aside from the Yokai designs, and may remind viewers of the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. The animation does have a specific style which uses a low framerate and constant sharpness. There’s a decided lack of motion blur and tween animation, which renders a particular look of abbreviated movement.
The Yokai themselves have an interesting style that rides the line between adorable and terrifying. Each is unique in both their visual element and their personality, and their presence as essentially guardian angels for Momo provides plenty of opportunities for both humor and warmth.
A Letter To Momo is easily one of the best films I’ve seen this year, and I cried through pretty much the last half hour or so. This is anime showing us what it can do as an art form. Heartily recommended for kids and adults alike.
The Package
Cinedigm brings A Letter To Momo to Blu-ray via its Gkids group, which specializes in approachable and family-friendly world cinema for domestic distribution. Their releases are top notch, and this is no exception.
The release is a Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack. My copy included a slipcover with artwork identical to that of the cover. Also included are three inserts depicting the three Yokai characters. One might call them art cards except they’re printed on regular paper. The movie is presented in the original Japanese with an English dub option for the kids.
The movie is not MPAA rated, but is kid-friendly and appropriate for general audiences.
Special Features and Extras
The Making Of A Letter To Momo (38:18)
AKA A Letter To Momo: Beginning To End, chronicles the film’s very long creation process which began in 2004.
Foreign Trailers And TV Spots (5:48)
Japanese trailer campaign and tie-in ads.
US Trailer (2:03)
More From Gkids
The disc includes trailers for several GKIDS movie, including Patema Inverted (1:47), Welcome To The Space Show (2:00), From Up On Poppy Hill (2:25), The Secret Of The Kells (1:57), and Ernest & Celestine (2:21)
TWIST AT THE END!
Spoiler: Momo’s dad is Scott Derrickson.
A/V Out.
Get it at Amazon:
A Letter To Momo [Blu-Ray] | [DVD] | [Instant]