Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru

First off, do not let the kitten character designs and animation style fool you. This is NOT a happy kids movie. Night on the Galactic Railroad is one of the most surrealist, bittersweet, and philosophical films ever made, dealing with topics of self-sacrifice, selflessness, death, the afterlife, and religion. The novel of the same name this movie is based on was published around 1934 after the author, Kenji Miyazawa, passed away in 1933. Although I am by no means an expert in this man's history, this story really helps explain his thoughts on the afterlife and his purpose for his life ... in a very thought-provoking and interpretive way for the audience.

For a film that was made in 1985 based on a story that wasn't published until 1934, the science fiction setting as Campanella and Giocanni travel on the Galactic Railroad still hold up tremendously well. The visuals and symbology still hold up today tremendously well. They are easy to comprehend, but hard to fully understand (in a good way that makes you think). The animation doesn't hold up as well animations during the same time period. Budget constraints might of been a problem. It makes up for this limitation by having some of the best imagery and pacing in a movie, giving the audience time to fully take in each scene. The music can also feel a little disjointed and art-houseish, but most of the time it adds a good weight the scenes they use it in. The inclusion of the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee" was especially well implemented into the story, greatly fitting the theme of the scene it is in.

If you go into this film open-minded, expecting a very emotional journey (that will leave you crying at least once), there is a lot to enjoy and ponder on in this classic. Also, want to give a shoutout to sasakure.UK for writing the wonderful song "For Campanella", which led me to this great movie.

“Night on the Galactic Railroad” is what happens when You have a hell of a trip after a bunch of drugs You took to deal with a really, Really tough day.

One night a boy named Giovanni finds himself on a very unique train. He doesn’t really have any recollection of getting a ticket. On the train he finds his (probably only) friend - Campanella. Together they travel through the galaxy on the way to the edge of the universe. During the ride they meet a bunch of people who have different takes on life and witness a lot of things that would make You question ... Your sanity on a normal day, and develop their relationship further.
The longer the ride goes the more it is obvious that Giovanni is a bit special. Something that is shown by a unique ticket he possesses. A ticket so unique that even a passenger who seems to have a lot of experience with the galactic train, never saw it before.
I know this description is a bit dry but I really want to avoid spoilers.

When it comes to Giovanni and Campanella themselves there isn’t much to say. They are pretty much just proxies for the viewers. The only things that we know is that Giovanni doesn’t have many friends, is bullied because of his father and takes care of his mother. Campanella on the other hand is Giovanni's only friend, is stoic and cares about Giovanni. For a story such as this it is a bit on the low info side and it is to the detriment of the drama. But given the story is aimed at children I guess I can live with it.

While not as mindfucking as “Angel's Egg” and being pretty heavy handed with its metaphors it is still a very atmospheric movie with a pretty universal message. Both Giovanni and Campanella, despite travelling on the same train don’t witness all the same things and there is a good reason for that that is revealed towards the end but You can easily figure it out sooner.

The movie has a lot of scenes that are there just to build the drama and a lot of them are longer than they need to be. I can’t really get mad about that, a lot of movies from the 80s have scenes like that so it’s obviously a product of the times. That said, I do understand why some people think the movie is slow. Up until the halfway point the movie takes its time and builds the universe of the train. The thing that bugged me for a long time is that there are no clear rules to the train. We see things that could be interpreted as memories, hopes and even just the daily grind. It does get a little clearer towards the end but You never get the full picture.

I really don’t want to spoil anything and talking about the plot would be mostly spoilers so…
Despite being old with dated animation (the music is still wonderful) it’s a very solid movie. Being from 1985 I understand that not everyone would be willing or able to sit through it but I encourage You to do just that. You might be surprised by what You’ll find.

Night on the Galactic Railroad is one of those movies that tries really hard to be deep and meaningful. If you like these sorts of movies, you’ll probably be able to find enjoyment in this one. It’s not entirely on the same level of weird, abstract/surreal as something like 2001 A Space Odyssey, but it’s approaching it.

The characters are dreadful. They don’t react to anything that happens around them, even when insane things are occurring. It’s hard to talk about the characters because they do not do very much throughout the movie. Mostly we see shots of them looking at things and being ... bored. I would say we’re shown their reactions, but as I already mentioned, the characters do not react to anything and have blank, bored looks plastered on their faces.

Did I mention this movie is incredibly dull? Nothing even vaguely interesting happens until around 30-40 minutes in. And a lot of the things that occur before then are just shots of Giovanni walking. There is a lot of reused footage in this movie which contributes to the boredom. I would mention the story, but like I already said there isn’t one because not having a coherent plot makes the film “deep and introspective.” I wouldn’t complain about this so much, but this movie is just not visually entertaining at all. I find it frustrating that we’re shown random things with no buildup and somehow we’re supposed to find this emotional? It just feels like a lazy way of making the story seem “cerebral.”

I liked the soundtrack, though a lot of the music feels misplaced. The animation and art are terrible for something made in the 1980s.