I told Miyazaki I love the āgratuitous motionā in his films; instead of every movement being dictated by the story, sometimes people will just sit for a moment, or they will sigh, or look in a running stream, or do something extra, not to advance the story but only to give the sense of time and place and who they are.
āWe have a word for that in Japanese,ā he said. āItās called ma. Emptiness. Itās there intentionally.ā
Is that like the āpillow wordsā that separate phrases in Japanese poetry?
āI donāt think itās like the pillow word.ā He clapped his hands three or four times. āThe time in between my clapping is ma. If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, itās just busyness, But if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension. If you just have constant tension at 80 degrees all the time you just get numb.ā
Which helps explain why Miyazakiās films are more absorbing and involving than the frantic cheerful action in a lot of American animation. I asked him to explain that a little more.
āThe people who make the movies are scared of silence, so they want to paper and plaster it over,ā he said. āTheyāre worried that the audience will get bored. They might go up and get some popcorn.
But just because itās 80 percent intense all the time doesnāt mean the kids are going to bless you with their concentration. What really matters is the underlying emotionsāthat you never let go of those.
ā Roger Ebert in conversation with Hiyao Miyazaki
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