Skip to main content
Only Yesterday film image

Only Yesterday

This event has passed

This lesser known Studio Ghibli feature is a real heartbreaker, a wistful, lyrical film about a young woman escaping the city and taking stock of her life at 27. Visiting relatives in the countryside, Taeko (voiced by Daisy Ridley in the English-language version) is enthusiastic about helping out on the farm, but she’s also preoccupied with memories of her childhood: the first stirrings of romance, the onset of puberty, and the frustrations of math and boys. Switching delicately between past and present, the film ponders what becomes of youthful expectations as we become adults, and more importantly, what can be revived.

From Academy Award®-nominated director Isao Takahata (The Tale of The Princess Kaguya; Grave of the Fireflies) and general producer Hayao Miyazaki, Only Yesterday is a masterpiece of time and tone, rich with humor and stirring emotion, and beautifully animated by one of the world’s most revered animation studios.

Our matinee family-friendly shows will feature the English-language version, all ages welcome. Evening screenings will play in Japanese with English subtitles.

It’s both an important part of Ghibli’s history and a gem in its own right.

Village Voice

A highly sensitive and empathetic consideration of the situation of women in Japanese society-but it’s also a breathtaking work of art.

Glenn Kenny, Rogerebert.com

Only Yesterday’s ecological message is both passionate and complex… In tying together these various psychological, ecological, economic, and sociopolitical resonances in a film about a young woman’s journey toward romantic fulfillment, Takahata creates a work that transcends its generic and cultural trappings to say something vitally basic about the transience of life’s small disappointments and redemptions.

Oleg Ivanov, Slant

 

Presenting Partner

Media Partner

Director

Isao Takahata

Country of Origin

Japan

Year

1991

Language

Matinee: English

Evening: In Japanese with English subtitles

PG
118 min

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

More Studio Ghibli

The Wind Rises

Miyazaki's first "retirement" film is inspired by the life of Jiro Horikoshi, a young man much like the filmmaker, who grew up to be a designer and engineer, and who is best known for the "Zero" fighter plane, a masterpiece of aerodynamics.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre
Isabel Leong's Ghibli Jazz Orchestra Performs the Music of Joe Hisaishi
Isabel Leong's Studio Ghibli Jazz Orchestra still

Isabel Leong's Ghibli Jazz Orchestra Performs the Music of Joe Hisaishi

Groove to the sounds of Ghibli! Isabel Leong's Ghibli Jazz Orchestra is composed of musicians who share a love of Studio Ghibli films, video games, and anime. Their arrangements draw inspiration from big band, wind ensemble and orchestral music.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Discovered inside a stalk of bamboo, a tiny girl lights up the life of a childless woodcutter and his wife – even if they're a little perplexed by the lightning speed with which this magical new-born begins to crawl, walk, and talk.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre

When Marnie Was There

A delicate, heartwarming story of a lonely child and the mysterious new friend she meets from across the bay... "Timeless... bursting with colour and detail... it arrives like a classic heirloom uncovered and restored for contemporary eyes." Variety

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre
Earwig and the Witch
Earwig and the Witch film image

Earwig and the Witch

Earwig has no idea that her mother had magical powers. Her life changes dramatically when a strange couple takes her in, and she is forced to live with a selfish witch. The headstrong young girl discovers a world of spells and potions.

VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre