Kiki’s Delivery Service is one of those movies where the viewing experience changes over time. Young girls (especially weird ones) will love the little witch heroine’s plucky independence, her talking cat Jiji and her suspicion of boys like the bespectacled cyclist Tombo. Burnt-out adults, meanwhile, will feel seen by the crisis she faces after turning her favorite hobby into her job, which leads to a journey to regain her confidence, and therefore her ability to fly. It’s director Hayao Miyazaki at his finest, taking complex emotional truths and distilling them in ways that make them understandable for kids and reassuring for grown-ups. As someone who checked the VHS tape out of my hometown’s library over and over as a kid, I’m particularly excited to revisit Kiki’s Delivery Service when its new 4K remaster comes to the Belcourt. The film will hold court there for a week, from March 20 to 26. Showtimes before 5 p.m. are dubbed for the kids; evening showings will be in Japanese with English subtitles for the die-hards.
March 20-26 at the Belcourt
2102 Belcourt Ave.
