Mary and the Witch’s Flower
While Hogwarts may be perhaps the most famous magical academy, it is far from the only one and nor is it the first, for published in 1971 and now charmingly filmed as Mary and the Witch’s Flower, The Little Broomstick is a beloved novel by the prolific writer Mary Stewart who moved through genre with little distinction regarding literary boundaries, writing romance, historicals, fantasies and childrens’ books.
The first feature film to be released by Japan’s Studio Ponoc, founded by former Studio Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, Mary and the Witch’s Flower is directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi who previously worked on Arrietty and When Marnie Was There for Ghibli, and fans of the unmistakable style of the legendary studio will have no complaints with this new enchantment.
With her boxes of books and pens and her bunches of unruly red hair, Mary Smith has a new home in a new village and is about to start at her new school; under the care of her Great Aunt Charlotte and the watchful eye of housekeeper Miss Banks she comprehensively fails to help Zebedee the gardener with the colourful blossoms bursting around the grounds of the house, so sets off to explore the countryside around Redmanor.
Her first encounter with soon-to-be schoolmate Peter less than successful, she instead strikes up a friendship with his two cats, Gib and Tib, who lead her into the forest to what Zebedee is able to identify as the rare fly-by-night, a plant which only blossoms once every seven years, also known as the witch’s flower.
After an argument with Peter the following day, Mary disobeys the instructions not to venture into the woods on a misty day, where wrapped in ivy against an ancient tree is a curiously well-preserved broomstick which she untangles, the sap from the witch’s flower on her hands awakening the broomstick and causing it to take her far away to Endor College.
Mistaken for a witch and Gib for her familiar, Mary is welcomed by headmistress Madame Mumblechook as a new attendee at this most prestigious school of witches which dates to the days of dragons, but despite the powers granted by the flower Mary knows she does not belong there and is fearful her unintended deception will be found out.
With its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in both dubbed and subtitled versions, while anime purists may insist on the Japanese original by default, the story written by long-time Edinburgh resident Stewart and conspicuously set in Scotland there is no reason to snub the English language version with the lines carefully adapted to synchronise with the Japanese phrasing of the characters’ lips.
Ruby Barnhill’s boisterous Mary defined as much by her kindness as her courage, she is supported by the experienced voices of Kate Winslet as Madame Mumblechook, Jim Broadbent as the single-minded chemist Doctor Dee, Ewen Bremner as former flight instructor Flanagan and Lynda Baron and Morwenna Banks as Great Aunt Charlotte and Miss Banks.
With beautifully painted landscapes, forests and skies giving way to the soaring architecture of Endor College, both the natural and manufactured worlds are gloriously presented, each filled with luminous magic, Takatsugu Muramatsu’s soundtrack deliberately playing up the Harry Potter angle as well as echoing the darker magic of Suspiria, though the Japanese pop song preserved over the closing titles is incongruous.
A world of bicycles and books rather than mobile phones which is neither as noisy nor as crass as much of what passes for children’s entertainment these days, while forsaking subtlety or complexity for exuberance Mary and the Witch’s Flower may not be the most demanding story but its uplifting spell can enjoyed by all who are willing to give themselves to its colourful charms.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower is on limited release from 4th May
The Glasgow Film Festival continues until Sunday 4th March
