IMDb plot summary: A young girl finds that all the books she chooses in the library have been previously checked out by the same boy. Later she meets a very infuriating fellow... could it be her "friend" from the library? The boy's grandfather has a violin sales and service shop. The boy wants to be a violin maker like his grandfather.
Directed by Yoshifumi Kondô. Starring (in the English dub) Brittany Snow, David Gallagher, Ashley Tisdale, and Cary Elwes.
I have actually already seen the quasi-sequel to this movie, The Cat Returns... but I have to say, I liked The Cat Returns significantly better. One of the things I like about Studio Ghibli movies, particularly the Miyazaki ones I've seen, is how they think outside the box and incorporate fantastical elements into their stories, with any deep or meaningful interactions almost sneaking up on us. Whisper of the Heart is a much more straightforward coming-of-age story, sticking pretty close to reality, but it doesn't quite work for me. The characters' motivations are confusing to follow, the romance is sort of abrupt and awkward given the protagonists' young ages, and it's hard to find much of anything connecting the cat statue subplot to the rest of the story. While I'm glad to cross another movie off my Studio Ghibli checklist, this is probably my least favorite from them. 1.5 stars.
Flickchart: #1457 out of 2061, below The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and above The Fugitive.
Buy the DVD on Amazon.
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