Ponyo on the Cliff by the sea will be at SITGES

Hayao Miyazaki's new film will be at Sitges 2008

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, the new movie from one of the masters of Japanese animation, will be present at this year's edition of the Festival. The film,  that amazed audiences at the most recent Venice Film Festival, is the story of the adventures of a five-year-old boy and his relationship with a sea princess who longs to become human.

There are those who say Hayao Miyazaki is one of the great creators of contemporary cinema; these are usually serious and cultured critics. There are also those who say Miyazaki is better than Disney, that his animations are marvelous and his stories, extremely beautiful; this is made clear by kids' good taste. The grownups' master and youngster's idol is back with Ponyo, a story about a boy and a sea princess where he crosses Greek mythology with children's stories. Could we ask for anything more' Well yes, a pace that's more intense than usual and animations where detail has given way to refinement of movement.

 

The film has been a huge box-office hit all over Japan, even much more so than Batman. According to Miyazaki, his intention with this film was to find the essence and purity of traditional (pre-digital)  animation again:

People tend to be surprised by things done with "electricity" (using a computer). I have always worked with pencils, so to make Ponyo, I decided I should do it with pencils only, without using "electricity". This is our advantage. Hayao Miyazaki.

The Festival, which has screened practically all of Miyazaki's movies at previous editions, even dedicating a comprehensive retrospective to him, is proud to present his latest masterpiece, making a total of...