On a surface level, The Island Closest to Heaven seems to be your run-of-the-mill adventure story, however it has something more to say than the typical teen romance flick.
The Island Closest to Heaven is about a teen girl, Mari, who after her father passes away travels to New Caledonia in order to find an island that her father talked about. An island that is said to be close to heaven, a paradise on Earth. During her quest she meets the inhabitants of the islands and learns a bit more about herself and about life.
Let's first start with the positives, the movie has a very serene and beautiful feel to it. The vistas allowed by the scenery of the islands is breathtaking and contribute so much to the mood of the story, in contrast to some of Nobuhiko Ôbayashi's earlier films he almost uses no pre-made backgrounds. All seems to be shot in location. The story carries some certain poetic elements and perspectives that add a lot of maturity to the story.
However, this movie also has some negatives that weigh it down. According to the booklet that was added with the movie's Blu-ray release this seems to be very faithful to the book adaptation which might be both positive and negative, the pace feels so sluggish at places where it's not needed. Characters that seem to have an important part in the story vanish and then appear at the very end, which undermines some supposedly very emotional scenes.
However, the thing that bothered me the most was the efforts of the main actress in this movie, Tomoyo Harada. Never have I ever experienced someone so hellbent into not emoting or taking the reins for the emotional path of the movie. During the movie she's described as a "clumsy" "kinda silly" teen but she's not, playing a very aloof and honestly very bland person. This could also boil down to lack of good direction from the director because Tomoyo Harada did almost the same for "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" but I honestly grew tired of her, and it's not that she's making a "subdued" performance. She's just not good at acting. Although I give her credit for her performance during the film's last minutes which showcase that she has some range but it's a bit too little too late honestly. I didn't find anything about her character appealing.
Also it's so funny that the movie synopsis talks about "adventures" and "magic" but the movie doesn't really deliver that.
All in all, I'd say this movie is ok. Not the greatest and it'll leave some people frustrated but it does deliver some gorgeous vistas and vibes and if you're into that, then by all means, please watch!
