There are those few people in the world who truly touch your heart and are a source of inspiration for all your creative endeavors. In this case, I’m talking about the works of Hayao Miyazaki. His work has been some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in animation. If you haven’t seen any of his movies yet (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Tororo, Kiki’s Delivery Service, among others), please put down this review and go watch one. Miyazaki has said that The Wind Rises is his final feature-length film. How does it compare to his other works?
Story
So here’s a brief non-spoiler look at the story. Trust me, there is much more to this film than what I’ll cover, but here’s a little taste.
The basic story revolves around the life of Jiro, our main character for the story. As a kid you see his tremendous passion for flight. However, Jiro is dealing with the revelation that he is near-sighted and needs glasses. So his dream of becoming a pilot is ruined. One night, he dreams about his idol, Giovanni Battista Caproni, and discovers that he can still follow his passion by becoming an aeronautical engineer and essentially design planes.
The movie roughly takes place post-World War I and slowly approaching World War II as Hitler is coming into power. We get to see the effect that Hitler’s rising is having on Japan and the world.
As Jiro continues to follow his dream, he meets his love, Nahoko, through a chance encounter and learns that he has to find a balance between all of his passions.
Thoughts
To the very core this movie was both extremely inspiring and revealing of a hard truth that most people have to deal with. It’s the challenge of life to not only find a balance between passion, love, creativity, and the harsh realities of life, but to also have the ability to do it while remaining at your core a good person trying to do good. Watching Jiro having to react to those hardships and still remain strong was a real inspiration.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/jGr8XDxB-9I[/youtube]
Animation
The visual elements in this movie were very interesting. Most Miyazaki films depict life in terms of fantasy and the natural world. This film was more inspired by the reality of human existence with an element of dreaming mixed in. The art style was, of course, very Studio Ghibli / Miyazaki, but the visual backgrounds were interesting because you got to see Japan post-WWI moving into a new era. I liked seeing the combination of both the industrial and the nature world. It made for a very interesting backdrop. The dream sequences were some of the most interesting aspects of the film, as you can almost see the bend where fantasy and reality meet.
Sound
One of my favorite parts about a Miyazaki film is its score. It’s always unique and something that sticks with you after the movie. Joe Hisaishi returns as composer, and delivers. There were countless musical choices for the score that I really appreciated. As for the voice acting, I only watched the Japanese dialogue version with English subtitles, which sounded solid. The English cast has Joseph Gordon Levitt as Jiro and Emily Blunt as Nahoko, both of whom seem like they fit the characters quite well.
Overall
I’ll be honest. While this isn’t my favorite Miyazaki film there was something truly special about it. It really touched me in a way I wasn’t expecting with a message that I haven’t seen in most films today. It was a hard truth mixed with a message of beauty. Almost a poem of life. If you are a hardcore Studio Ghibli / Miyazaki fan certainly watch it. Though know that this probably isn’t what you are expecting, which makes it that much more beautiful.