ACF 1436: CHILDREN WHO CHASE LOST VOICES FROM DEEP BELOW

CHILDREN WHO CHASE LOST VOICES FROM DEEP BELOW

Directed by Makoto Shinkai

Japan, 2011, 116 minutes

When: Sat & Sun, April 21 & 22 at 11:00am

Where: IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue (at West Third), NYC

Map here

Makoto Shinkai is perhaps the world's finest animator and his brilliant new feature delivers frame after frame of jaw-dropping photorealistic splendor: skyscapes of unspeakable majesty, a butterfly on a twig, a blade of grass - all are rendered with such astounding delicacy and precision that you mourn their passing once the image has left the screen. The story is a modern-day Orpheus tale with a sci-fi twist that pays tribute to the great works of Hayao Miyazaki - especially Princess Mononoke - with its demonic spirit-gods and magnificent forest creatures.

Synopsis: Asuna spends her afternoons alone in the mountains, using her crystal radio to listen to haunting songs from somewhere far away. One afternoon, a wild bear-like creature attacks and Asuna is saved by Shun, a boy with strange powers who comes from a mythical underworld beneath the Earth that is a gateway to the afterlife. When Asuna returns the next day to find him gone, she decides to leave the world of the living behind and follow him.

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