I was going to use today, one day before the DVD release of Star Trek: Into
Darkness, to discuss my opinion of the film which has evolved somewhat since its
release. However this story takes prescedent as it will easily
have the most significant impact on film as a whole. The story in question?
Today, September 1st 2013, it was announced that Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of
the seminal Studio Ghibli and the director of some the most popular and
endearing children's films of the last decade is to retire.
The news which came from Studio Ghibli head Koji Hoshino was met with
stunned silence when revealed at the Venice Film Festival. The festival is to
screen Miyazaki's eleventh, and now I guess final, film The Wind Rises. It's
fitting then that the film neatly encapsulates the two subjects which most
fuel Miyazaki's passion and which have been woven throughout his work,
for better or for worse. His love for flight and aviation and his hatred of
war.
The Wind Rises is about Jiro a young Japanese boy who dreams of
flight and goes on to be a flight designer during World War Two. Refreshingly
for a film about realising ones dreams the central conflict comes from losing
out to simple competition not from external influences that hinder the path to
being the best. And like Oppenheimer, like even Orville Wright himself, Jiro
lives a life of regret at the suffering his works brought.
As mentioned the theme of war has permeated many of Miyazaki's films at
Studio Ghibli. Ashitaka's quest against the weapons manufacturer Lady Eboshi in
Princess Mononoke to Porco Rosso's past as a fighter pilot. Sometimes I
feel this is a detriment to his work, like in Howl's Moving Castle where
the war serves as little more than set dressing. Presented without cause or
distinction of the two sides crippling our ability to empathise with Howl for
doing what he can to protect the innocent. Though this is far from my sole
problem with the film.
Whether Miyzaki's legacy will be to encourage universal pacifism or the
preservation of the natural world remains to be seen. What is indisputable is
that his contribution to Japanese Animation has not only produced some of its
most compelling works but burst it onto mainstream western culture. Walt Disney
releasing Princess Mononoke paved the way for future Ghibli films now
released and arthouse cinema's and children's screenings across the west. That
last point I think is one component of Ghibli's success, for all the depth
added by theme and mythology they still work remarkably well as children's
film.
My Neighbour Totoro is, for me, the best example of this. Led by two,
incredibly sympathetic leads and set across the beauty of Akita Prefecture
serving as the backdrop. The story is almost nonexistent as two young sisters
try to come to terms with their mother suffering a severe sickness, finding respite
in Totoro, the playful spirit of the forest. It's the profound sadness that
makes the joy in their adventures with Totoro so palpable and the simple but
distinct visual design of the spirit is what has made him a cult icon.
If I'm being honest though my favourite is and now always will be Laputa:
Castle in the Sky. What can I say, I'm a sucker for adventure and similar
to Miyazaki I've always has a fascination with airships. Airplanes may be the
statistically safest way to fly but that doesn't stop your heart racing on
takeoff. And that's what Laputa does, it whisks you away at high velocity then
settles to let you get comfortable before taking its turns. It's a unique,
funny and thrilling adventure that I can watch time and time again.
Studio Ghibli will not end with Miyazaki. That has never been a prospect.
Recent addition to the team Hiromasa Yonebayashi debuted with The Secret
World of Arietty which neatly embodies everything great about a Studio
Ghibli film. Isao Takahata, who directed the heartbreaking Grave of the
Fireflies continues to work with the studio. With his 5th Ghibli film The
Story of Princess Kaguya currently in production. And of course
there is Miyazaki's son Goro. Yes, his freshman outing Tales of Earthsea was
met with a mixed critical reception, harshly earning his the Japanese
equivalent of the Razzies. But From Up On Poppy Hill has fared much
better with its plot closer to Ghibli films outside the fantasy genre like Only
Yesterday.
Yes Ghibli will continue without Hayao Miyazaki's contribution but there is
a sense that film will be poorer for it. He opened the west up to not only
Japanese animation, which already had a dedicated albeit fringe following, but
to worlds of splendor and hope. For the last year I have considered becoming an
English language teacher in Japan. It is a desire brought about by the beauty
the Ghibli films have shown me. Because of Miyazaki I want to walk up the Tama
hills and along the safflower fields of Yamagata. And if I do I'll keep an eye
out for Totoro.
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