Going by the poster, it looks like Hayao Miyazaki, the founder of Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli, has come out of retirement – again. But this gorgeous hand-drawn film is a Pakistani production, a feature debut from young animator Usman Riaz with some dazzling images up there with the best of Ghibli. (And there is a connection: Ghibli producer Geoffrey Wexler is credited here as a creative consultant.)
The Glassworker is a heartfelt anti-war film set in a bustling fictional seaside town sometime in the early to mid 20th century. Vincent (voiced by Sacha Dhawan as a young man in the English-language dubbed version) is the son of glassworker Tomas, a pacifist who becomes increasingly unpopular in town as the drumbeats of war grow louder. Vincent receives a letter from his friend Alliz (Anjli Mohindra), the daughter of an army colonel. Much of what follows is bittersweet memories of their childhood, beginning with how they met; there are lovely unforced scenes though some of the voice acting here and elsewhere feels a bit flat.
“War is a disease,” writes Alliz in one of her letters. Back in their childhood, as lads from the town march off to the frontline, Vincent’s dad manages to keep him in the glassworks, striking a deal that painfully compromises his integrity. So, Vincent stays, creating his own ever more intricate glass objects. And glass gives the film some of its most ravishing images. Disconcertingly in one scene, bombs explode, shattering windows, with shards strewn everywhere, shimmering like diamonds.
The Glassworker is a beautiful film, but doesn’t reach the magic and wonder of Riaz’s hero Hayao Miyazaki. How much will speak to kids, who sit so transfixed through Ghibli films, eyes like saucers?
• The Glassworker is in UK and Irish cinemas from 19 September, and is streaming on SBS On Demand in Australia.
