Today we watched The Secret World of Arriety, based on The Borrowers by Mary Norton, a book I have a vague recollection of reading once a long time ago. We'd not seen this movie before, but we liked it!
Arriety is a tiny person, a Borrower, living under a human house in the Japanese countryside. She lives with her mom and dad, and they're the only Borrowers living in this human house.
Sho is a sick boy sent to the country to rest at his aunt's house before his heart surgery (also, he looks a lot like Shinji Ikari). Sho knows the Borrowers exist because his mother told him about it once, and he sees Arriety on his first day.
The movie is about the burgeoning friendship between Arriety and Sho, even as Arriety's family distrusts humans, and Haru, the housekeeper at Sho's aunt's house, wants to capture them... for reasons. The Borrowers' distrust of humans makes complete sense. They are much bigger than they are, and could easily hurt them, even without meaning to. It is a dangerous world for Borrowers, and they take great pains not to be seen when out doing their borrowing.
What's less clear is why Haru wants to capture them. Sho's aunt talks about how her grandfather had this elaborate dollhouse built so the Borrowers could live in it after seeing one when he was young, but he never saw another one. This love for the Borrowers is passed down through the generations. I understand Haru is not part of the family, but she knows they don't want to hurt the Borrowers. Neither her intentions nor her motivations are ever made clear, and at the end she's almost made to feel crazy (which made me pity her).
When it becomes obvious that Sho knows about Arriety and her parents, her father decides they have to move. Sho's rather rude and terrifying intrusion into their home to give them a new kitchen (he was trying to be nice, but maybe ask permission next time you want to remodel somebody's house), and Haru's kidnapping of Arriety's mother only exacerbates things (even though Sho helps to rescue her later). We never find out what happens to Sho, but it's suggested that, after meeting Arriety, he now has a reason to live. But I was mostly like, whatever. That other Borrower named Spiller has a crush on her and it's adorable.
Arriety is a really good character, and she is most of the reason I enjoyed this movie. It's a pretty small story with pretty small stakes (no pun intended), and sometimes, that's all I need.
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