Ma

I have been a fan for the work of the Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki for many years. When I grew up in Hong Kong, I remember fondly the time I spent watching one of Miyazaki’s most famous films of all time “Totoro”. My siblings and I never got tired of watching that movie. I remember the joy we experienced as children watching his movies that touched us deeply, and to this date I am still touched whenever I watch his movies.

There is one thing in common with all of Miyazaki’s movies that set him apart from other film makers – ma. In Miyazaki’s movies, one frequently find this ambiguous yet strategic break in noise. Miyazaki references the Japanese word “Ma” in multiple interviews, roughly translating to “emptiness”, to describe the moments in his art that are not for plot nor action, but for space, time, depth, and quiet feeling.

“We have a word for that in Japanese. It’s called ma. Emptiness. It’s there intentionally. [claps his hands] The time in between my clapping is ma. If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it’s 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.”

“The people who make the movies are scared of silence, so they want to paper and plaster it over. They’re worried that the audience will get bored. But just because it’s 80 percent intense all the time, doesn’t mean the kids are going to bless you with their concentration. What really matters is the underlying emotions—that you never let go of those.”-Hayao Miyazaki

One of Miyazaki’s most prominent animation films of all time, “Spirited Away” which won him The Academy Award for best animated feature during the 75th Academy award, making it the first, and to date, the only hand drawn animated non-English language animated film that won the award. In the middle of the movie, there is this famous train scene where there is no dialogue for three minutes and is comprised of twenty-eight shots. We witness the main character Chihiro going through the train journey before embarking for another major development in the movie. Instead having nonstop action, we as audience are given the space to reflect on what has happened and further immerse in the moment. Leaving characters not to act, but simply to be, allows the depth of the movie to form. Western narratives tend to focus on where the characters are going and what actions they are taking, whereas with Eastern narratives, we are given the space to ponder, and those moments can be ambiguous with no obvious explanation where they are leading to, but because of that ambiguity, we are given the freedom to feel that narrative in accordance with our inner world.

People often comment on my images being calm and quiet. I see it as a compliment as I hope my images provide respite from our daily grind. Instead of having overwhelming visuals, I like to let my emotions reach out to the audience through simply composed images of quiet color paletts or with black and white. I like to let my audience feel as though they have a say in what they experience when interacting with my images. By not screaming loud with my editing techniques, I hope to give people space to feel the emotion that may be swirling beneath the surface.

What makes Miyazaki’s movies so magical can be applied in our lives as well. Life never stops for any of us, but it is in our power to stop and reflect quietly on occasions. I feel we can all adopt ma and take a break from a world that is filled with noise.