Night on the Galactic Railroad

I wrote this for a class, which explains why it's a bit more analytical/spoiler-filled.

If I had to pick one thing about this film to praise, it's the original score. The music is haunting and fits the tone perfectly. It's also the only truly positive thing I can say about the movie. It's not poorly put together, and it does have some interesting things to say about life and friendship. It's just not very entertaining. The pacing is way too slow, and not that many things actually happen.

I'm not sure what the purpose was of dragging out some mundane actions for so long. It was a little painful to watch Giovanni slowly do busy work for several minutes. A lot of time is spent establishing setting, but there is little payoff. I think it would have worked much better if it was less than an hour instead of stretched out to feature length. The art style is simple, not ugly but not that interesting to look at either. Most of the characters had the same blank, wide-eyed expression on their face most of the time. None of the characters have that much personality and are just there to push the story like Campanella or fulfill stereotypes.

The railroad is a way to heaven for deceased innocents, but it isn't clear whether Giovanni actually was aboard such a thing or had a metaphorical, prophetic dream about his friend. Either way, it's a nice story about having to accept what's happened and sacrifice yourself to help others. Giovanni is saddened by his friend's passing, but he becomes a better person (or cat) for it.