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Asteroid City (2023)

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Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)

I'll discuss the extent of the movie so, obviously, spoiler warning.

Adapted from the novel under the same name by Kenji Miyazawa, the film follows two strained friends as they journey across the galaxy in a magical train. I watched this initially because the art direction seemed to be right just up my alley (also: cute cats!) but ended up with a heart-wrenching story about friendship, purpose and spirituality.

Giovanni (blue) is an outsider in his own hometown. With a bedridden mother and a father gone on a fishing trip, he's ridiculed and excluded by his classmates. On the day of the Festival of Stars, while his classmates go out and have fun, he sets on looking for the milk delivery so he can tend to his mother. We also meet Campanella (pink) early on, while he does not mock or laugh at Giovanni as his classmates do, he does not help him either. It is stated that they used to be pretty close but it's unknown why the friends parted ways.

Having been told to come later at the dairy for his mother's milk, Giovanni lies down in a hill. He's interrupted when a train heads his way. Confused he boards it only to find Campanella is also there. As the train advances , taking both boys in a journey across the galaxy, they meet different characters and see impossible views. They stumble upon archaeologists digging up fossils in a world of sand, a man that catches birds and turns them into candy for a living and a pair of siblings and their tutor who have died in a ship wreck and are on their way to heaven.

As things get more surreal the topics of the film also deepen. It's main focus is Giovanni's and Campanella's relationship in which the later is clearly keeping a secret, one even him might not know about. The friends quickly find that their mutual feelings are still there, almost as if they too cannot understand what could have possibly driven them apart before and promise to each other to be together forever.

A recurring topic among their trip is death and religion. There's the dead kids who are finally heading home, to the christian heaven after their tragic passing. They also tell the story about the Burning Scorpion, who regretted not doing anything good for others in his life so bowed to burn forever as a beacon. Fascinated by the trip, Giovanni seeks nothing else but to continue traveling with Campanella. But when Campanella spots his mother in the entrance of the "true heaven", he realizes that, unlike Giovanni, he cannot stay on the train forever. When Campanella leaves the train, Giovanni is unable to understand why he cannot follow him. As their promise is broken, Giovanni stares in despair as his best friend leaves him on the train.

Giovanni wakes, realizing he fell asleep in the field while he waited for the milk, and that the whole adventure had merely been a dream. But when he gets to town he hears news that Campanella has fallen in the river. When he gets to the shore he realizes it's too late and as the search ends he finally understand his dream. He vows to be just like the scorpion of the story and even in death, believes his promise with Campanella still stands, if anything all the stronger.

I'd expected a wonderful animation but not such a tragic story too. It's deep and honest, more so than one would expect from a children's book or at least for me: someone who grew up hearing fancy and all-too-good fairytales. Death, purpose and friendship (although probably something more than friendship if we are being honest) come together to tell a beautiful story, urging the viewers ultimately to choose kindness.

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Stoker (2013)

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Real women have curves (2002)