Miyazaki recreates the long-lost coziness of childhood in ‘Ponyo’

It is rather clear that the film's narrative and animation style is intended for an incredibly young audience, surely for that of an age under 10. However, Miyazaki's dreamlike fudge-flavored innocence is something that will also address adults who yearn for that forsaken naiveté and sometimes wish for an uninhibited universe where all is picture perfect: The skies are always blue, the sea is pristine, the food is sumptuous, the parents love their kids, nothing truly evil can happen and the world is nothing but a green playground. If anyone can create that long-lost coziness and awe particular to childhood without ruining its nostalgic roots, it is Miyazaki.

In a sweet little seaside village lives the 5-year-old Sosuke with his mother, Lisa, a caretaker at the nearby elderly home, and father, Koichi, a freighter captain who frequents the ocean more than the family's Hansel and Gretel-inspired cottage located on the town's furthest cliff looking over the blue waters. One day, when the delightful little Sosuke (even his name makes you want to squeeze him tight with a bear hug) is frolicking around the beach, he discovers a goldfish with a human face. This is Ponyo, the most adorable little thing since Goldilocks. (Excuse the cuddly-wuddly talk, but this is exactly the feeling the film brings about in a certain audience demographic over the age of 18.) The little boy and the little girl -- well, fish -- develop a deep affection for each other; Sosuke takes care of her like she was his own and Ponyo is in awe of him. But when Ponyo decides to fulfill her desires and become human for her dear Sosuke, things take a jagged turn.

The thing is, Ponyo is the daughter of the vicious Fujimoto, a once-human sorcerer now living under the sea who will not only punish her but the entire town for her escape. Luckily, Ponyo is also the daughter of the Queen of the Sea, an ethereal presence who looks and acts like an angel and is nothing but a liquefied metaphor of the compassionate “mother earth.” Sosuke will have to fight for his little Ponyo while Fujimoto creates a tsunami of vengeance over the inhabitants of the town.

Of course, Fujimoto is only the materialized version of nature's frustrated spirit with mankind's anti-environmental dwellings; it is no coincidence that he first starts to wreck freight ships and commercial dwellings before he tries to lure Ponyo back into his underwater fortress.

“Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” is a remarkable achievement in a time when most of us have lost faith in fairytales, and it isn't just the simple but incisive fable-like story but the meticulously seamed real-life elements that still manage to lure the viewer without breaking the bubble. Sosuke's parents are caring but also daring adults; the elderly in the nursing home are funny, yet daunting.

Miyazaki's color palette is ever so diversified and luminous and his lines are gentle and soft, yet so pungent as they outline the faces and shapes of all different sorts of characters, ranging from the round figures of the children to the pointy faces of the adults.

But the most endearing component of the film would have to be the elementary and deep-seated relationship between Sosuke and Ponyo, which relays a kind of rare bond that could inspire children themselves to look for such genuine friendships in which people stick together through good and bad.

Miyazaki, blocking away all the wrong exits of pretension, offers every person of every age an enthralling visual journey full of joy, wonder and purity (without ever being puritanical and ironclad) in an intricate world of rich vivacity and color. Never mind that the film is 100 minutes long -- some might worry about their children's attention deficit, the ride is worth it and anyone who watches Ponyo will leave the theater with a sweet smile on his or her face.

“Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” opened Friday in limited release in İstanbul.