I watched Kiki’s Delivery Service tonight. It has been a while since I watched a film from this list so forgive me if I do not stick to my format.
I had seen this movie once before in high school and really enjoyed it. Kiki’s slump and art block had been the most memorable parts in my mind.
When I watched it tonight I thought those scenes would be longer.
When I last watched this I wanted to work in the visual arts. I focused my last year of high school on it and I even went to art school for a semester. Looking back now I know my high school paintings weren’t good. They weren’t awful either, but they lacked soul and no meaning behind them. Most of my choices were stylistic and I didn’t have the skill or eye to make them a reality. When I think of them now they feel hollow.
A big part of why I left art school was because I was living in a new city. I couldn’t handle the change and my body and mind began falling apart. I haven’t left my current city since I came back. When I started the movie I struggled with feelings of regret and anxiety, I wanted to be like Kiki and make my way somewhere new on my own. I still have the opportunity but there seem to be so many reasons not to.
While the movie is fantasy the most fictional parts are how idyllic the town is. She moves there and finds somewhere to stay, she puts her skills to use working for herself. Whenever she’s in trouble someone is there with the cure. The worst person encountered is a bratty teenager who doesn’t want her grandmother’s herring and pumpkin pie.
It’s nearing mid winter and some days I don’t talk to anyone or even get out under the sun. I’m now on my balcony listening to the sounds of motorways enforced by the wind, I’m looking out to cloudy skies, dark buildings, flashing cranes. The Mediterranean seems like a nice place to be.