Films with: Hisaishi, Joe

Castle in the sky

Pazu is an engineer's apprentice who finds Sheeta, a young girl, floating down from the sky, wearing a glowing pendant. Together, they discover both are searching for Laputa, a legendary floating castle, and vow to unravel the mystery of the luminous crystal around Sheeta's neck. Their quest won't be easy. There are greedy air pirates, secret government agents and astounding obstacles to keep them from learing the truth.

DVD 9756

Hauru no ugoku shiro Howl's moving castle /

A young woman named Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waste and is turned into an old woman who is unable to tell anyone of her plight. Unable to continue her job at her mother's hat shop, she goes to the ambulatory castle of the notorious wizard Howl and insinuates herself into his household. Sophie befriends Calcifer, the fire demon who powers the castle and who is bound to Howl by a contract, the terms of which Calcifer cannot reveal. They promise to help each other with their problems. Like Calcifer, Howl can also see through the Witch's spell, and he and Sophie fall in love. Sophie helps Howl confront his former teacher, and the Witch of the Waste.

DVD 6312

Kaze no tani no Naushika Nausicaä of the valley of the wind /

Nausicaä is the princess of a rural valley that lives at peace on the edge of a deadly fungal wasteland, until a ship carrying a weapon from a bygone industrial age crashes nearby. When warriors from a far country come to retrieve the artifact, their invasion draws Nausicaä and her people into a sprawling political conflict. Set 1,000 years after a global war that nearly destroyed all life on Earth.

DVD 8460

Kiki's delivery service

A young witch named Kiki and her chatty black cat Jiji befriend a bakery owner. Kiki is an enterprising young girl, but she must follow tradition in order to become a full-fledged witch. Landing in a far-off city, and with the help of her new friend, she sets up a high-flying delivery service and begins a wonderful experience of independence and responsibility as she finds her place in the world.

DVD 9752

Okuribito Departures /

Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and finds himself without a job. He decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled 'Departures' thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency. He discovers that the job is actually for a 'Nokanshi' or 'encoffineer,' a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art, acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed.

DVD 7197

Ponyo

A young boy named Sosuke rescues a goldfish named Ponyo, and they embark on a fantastic journey of friendship before Ponyo's father forces her to return to the sea. Ponyo's desire to be human upsets the balance of nature and only Ponyo's mother, a beautiful sea goddess, can restore nature's balance and make Ponyo's dreams come true.

DVD 7322

Porco Rosso

Slouching towards middle age, Porco Rosso makes his living by flying about in his red bi-plane and fighting sky bandits who prey on cruise ships sailing the Adriatic. When he's not engaging in dog fights, this pilot lives on a deserted island retreat. Porco was once a strappling young man, but after his entire squardron was wiped out, he is mysteriously transformed into a pig. Then he is defeated in a dogfight against a dashing American rival, who has been hired by the dastardly bandits. With his plane damaged, he finds a repair hanger near Milan where a local woman fixes his plane.

DVD 6314

Spirited away

When a young girl gets trapped in a strange new world of spirits, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free herself and rescue her parents.

DVD 1773