The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)

The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)

Dir. Makoto Shinkai / Yoshio Suzuki (asst)

Within their colourful world of fairy-tale blue and pink skies Shinkai's trio of yearning hopefuls exist to transmit thoughts and stir emotional responses in the viewer. On the ground, in a country divided, the threat of war looms, making the moments spent in each other's company even more precious.

Far in the distance stands a mystifying tower that seems as high as the heavens. More than just an unknown structure, it's a symbol upon which the characters pin their dreams. The shared desire to reach it, to lessen a physical distance in their own lives, is ultimately what brings them together.

The kind of wisdom that comes from knowing you were on the precipice of something beautiful but acutely aware that it could never be known fully until it passed is Shinkai's stock-in-trade.

Keep in mind while viewing the work that the 'Place' of the title is something more than just physical. Also that sometimes the mind knows what the heart wants is transitory, so it suggests hesitation and creates a wilful distraction.

Music is by Shinkai's regular composer Tenmon (Atsushi Shirakawa), who provides another perfect accompaniment to a timeless and bitter-sweet story. Tenmon's serene compositions are like the inspirational beauty of a setting summer sun captured in sound, but could be equally as apt to the reaffirming chill of a magical wintry evening spent with a loved one, if you prefer.