Now Go: On Grief And Studio Ghibli (2022) By Karl Thomas Smith

"The world at large, to its great shame, is scornful of people who live deeply."

Much like Karl Thomas Smith, the author of this short exploration, I too have lived a life entwined in both the notion of grief and a deep admiration of Studio Ghibli. As such, the idea of reading a piece of writing based on the relationship between the two, among other things, intrigued me greatly.

"Grief is all around us. At the heart of the brightly coloured, vividly characterised, joyful films of Studio Ghibli, they are wracked with loss - of innocence, of love, of the connection to our world and of that world itself."

The underlying emotion of the piece was quite palpable at times, with the author using his personal experiences as a basis for his effective and exploratory points. He peels back the layers on not only Ghibli's films, but of its filmmakers, and why their own personal context matters too. The result is a book that feels like a tender conversation with a compassionate friend.

"Miyazaki once said that 'life is a winking light in the darkness.' While all evidence suggests that the man himself would likely never suggest something quite so grandiose, Studio Ghibli is also that light for many."

It makes some necessary, if not unique, points about environmentalism, albeit through the lense of Studio Ghibli's immense filmography. In fact, a good deal of the book is about climate change and the impact humans have had on the environment, which, while unexpected, was warmly received.

"These stories of loss, played out through fantasy, to show us the truth: to show us what we need to see: when in plainer terms, we might flinch and look away, these films - in all their beauty and their humor and their artistry - ask us to keep looking."

It does repeat itself a little too often, with many of the same examples and ideas reworded, or simply reintegrated, into the essay. This was the only significant negative I felt towards it. It made reading certain passages a little tiresome, mainly because it felt like I was walking a pathway I had already explored.

"[Grief] is a maze - a labyrinth - in which we are sent to become lost before the possibility of escape is even contemplated. It is not quick - it is not easy. There is no map, no key, no legend and no scale. There is only the maze itself and the quiet echoes of the world above.”

Though not a long read, this was certainly an impactful one, at times. It attempts to recontextualise some of the best pieces of cinema, and reintroduce them to the reader from a slightly different angle. It asks you to explore the films anew, as well as one's own mind, in the hopes that the reader will look at life, and their own grief, through a new lense.

"Yes, we tell ourselves stories in order to live. We also tell them in order to grieve. In order to lose. In order to live again. To live sill."