《借东西的小人阿莉埃蒂》

上周末在电影院看了吉卜力工作室在2010年推出的电影《借东西的小人阿莉埃蒂》。 其实我之前完全没听说过这部电影，是在日本超市门口看到海报才决定买票去看的。（不过此片在豆瓣Top250里位列121，61万人打分8.9，说明还是有不少人看过的）。

很简单的人物设定和故事情节，主角是一个身高只有十公分的14岁女孩阿莉埃蒂， 她和父母生活在一栋日本乡间别墅的地板下。她们这个种族自称“borrower”， 因为她们为了维持生活所需，会悄悄潜入人类的房间，“借出”一些不起眼的东西，比如一块方糖，一张纸巾之类的。 这栋别墅里还暂住着一个即将接受心脏手术的人类男孩翔，他无意中发现了阿莉埃蒂，想要帮助她，却也引起了其他人的注意，导致阿莉埃蒂一家深陷陷阱。

故事虽然简单，但是人物之间的情感却非常细腻。比如沉稳的父亲带着初出茅庐的阿莉埃蒂第一次出门冒险，让人联想起《双人成行》里的两个小人，也让人想起《最后生还者》里的Joel和Ellie。 而作为家庭主妇的妈妈，有点神经质，又有点贪图享受，但同时也照顾了受伤的丈夫，给予女儿温暖的爱。

当然故事最终还是着重在阿莉埃蒂和翔的情感上。当变故发生，阿莉埃蒂果断地决定要和父母搬家，探索未知的世界，从来没有想过要寻求翔的庇护。 她的行动告诉了翔要勇敢面对生活中未知的险境，而不是自怨自艾。

故事的高潮落脚在“勇敢”上，真的很打动我。 从小时候读《哈利波特》开始 ，我就知道自己不够勇敢，却也一直在努力让自己变得更勇敢。 亚里士多德说“勇气是第一美德，因为它保障了其他美德的实现。”，我想这会是我一生的追求（以及求而不得）。

Last weekend I went to the theater to watch The Secret World of Arrietty, a 2010 film from Studio Ghibli. I’d actually never heard of it before — only decided to buy a ticket after spotting a poster outside a Japanese supermarket. (That said, the film is ranked #121 on Douban’s Top 250, with over 610,000 people giving it an average score of 8.9 — so clearly, I’m the one who’s late to the party.)

The story and character setup are pretty simple. The protagonist is a 14-year-old girl named Arrietty who’s only 10 centimeters tall. She and her parents live under the floorboards of a countryside house in Japan. Their kind call themselves “borrowers” because they secretly sneak into human spaces to “borrow” small things to survive — like a sugar cube, or a tissue.

Temporarily staying at the house is a human boy named Shō, who’s about to undergo heart surgery. He accidentally discovers Arrietty, and tries to help her — but his attention also brings danger, and Arrietty’s family ends up in trouble.

Despite the simplicity of the plot, the emotional details between characters are handled with a lot of subtlety. For example, the calm, experienced father takes Arrietty on her first “borrowing” adventure — a moment that reminded me of the two mini characters in It Takes Two, and also of Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us. The mother, a homemaker, is a little neurotic and enjoys small luxuries, but she also cares for her injured husband and gives her daughter warm, unconditional love.

Of course, the emotional core of the film is between Arrietty and Shō. When things go south, Arrietty makes a firm decision to leave with her family and explore the unknown, never once seeking protection from Shō. Through her actions, she shows him that bravery means facing the uncertainties of life head-on — not wallowing in self-pity.

The story builds up to this theme of courage, and it really moved me. Ever since I first read Harry Potter as a kid, I’ve always known I wasn’t the brave type — but I’ve been trying to become braver ever since. Aristotle once said, “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.” I think this might be a lifelong pursuit for me — maybe even one I’ll always fall just short of, but still keep chasing.