I have a like/love relationship with all Miyazaki movies I’ve seen (Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Nausicaa, and The Boy and the Heron, which is now on Netflix). There’s a common element I love about them, but I’m often left wanting just a little more clarity in just a little shorter running time.
The thing I love about many of his movies is that idea that there’s a magical world just around the corner if you look at it from the perfect angle or crawl through the right patch of vines. That sense of wonder and connection to the real world is consistently delightful.
Even when that element isn’t present–when he showcases an entirely new world instead of one attached to our own–I’m still transported in an engaging way. Princess Mononoke is probably my favorite Miyazaki movie for the sheer scope of it.
This weekend I watched The Boy and the Heron, and it perfectly evoked that first element: It’s grounded in the real world, but if you follow the heron, you’ll emerge somewhere new. It’s a beautiful movie. Where I struggled–as in other Miyazaki movies–is that once the weirdness begins, I was consistently confused as to what was happening and why it was happening. Without that, the movie wouldn’t have felt as long as it did, as a result the 2-hour movie felt around 20 minutes too long.
But that’s just me. What’s your take on Miyazaki movies? Do you have a favorite?
I read (and loved) the original Young Adult fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle. Hence I had no difficulty understanding the corresponding Miyazaki movie.
My favourite Wynne Jones YA novel is Charmed Life, which I highly recommend.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Lovely topic — I am a huge Miyazaki fan. Spirited Away is my favorite, followed by My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. I do like and appreciate Princess Mononoke; in terms of scope and message it is extraordinary. I do find the violence quite challenging. I love the magnificence of the Forest Spirit and the adorable otherworldliness of the kodama.
I think Miyazaki understands what it is to be a child, almost like he remembers it vividly, and can communicate those feelings through his characters. Mononoke doesn’t have the childlikeness, but Spirited Away is suffused with it. Chihiro’s journey is incredible, and I watch it now as a mother, 20 years after I first saw it, very differently than I did as a young adult. His other gift is sharing Japanese culture and folklore. It is woven into Spirited Away in ways that I will never fully understand, but the immersion in world of the bathhouse allows me to learn as I watch.
As far as The Boy and the Heron, Joe and I saw it in the theatre, and I was very glad I didn’t bring the kids. It was challenging for me. It felt like being in someone’s dreams and nightmares, which, I think to a certain extent, is what he wanted to accomplish. I think they are remnants of his childhood, his traumas, his fears, his wonder. I’m glad that most of his films don’t explore that deep into his psyche, but seem instead to skip along the edges, dipping into the strangeness just enough to get our feet wet with his wonderful imagination. The Boy and the Heron was too much of the deep end for me.
Thanks for sharing! I like what you said about Miyazaki understanding/remembering exactly what it means to be a child. I agree about the deep end of The Boy and the Heron.
I agree! I find the fantastical elements of The Boy And The Heron, and Spirited Away, very confusing and overwhelming. In contrast the worldbuilding in Princess Mononoke felt very grounded and natural to me.
Delightful post!
The Boy and the Heron is a proper work of art, and therefore will allow a variety of interpretations. For me, it’s helpful to think of it as a reflection upon his career.
Miyazaki is someone who cares deeply about environmental issues, yet he’s made a catalogue of fantasy movies that allow viewers to escape the everyday. In the Boy and the Heron he asks if that sense of escape is morally acceptable. So in the film you get all these wildly different fantasy vingettes, and at the end the protagonist has to decide whether he’ll keep them going or destroy them.
Starting with Mononoke and going through Moving Castle, he began using computers to help with some of the animation complications. In Ponyo, probably my favorite Miyazaki film, he reverted to 100% hand drawn animation. Due to age, he needed computers again to make Boy and the Heron, but given that the movie is asking fundamental questions about fantasy, he’s not quite endorsing them.
Also, it’s worth noting that the inspiration for the wizard charector was the studio’s other founding director, Takahata. As I get older, Takahata’s films speak to me more.
“In the Boy and the Heron he asks if that sense of escape is morally acceptable.” I really like that insight!
I like all of his work, but the first movie of his that i saw was “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”, which remains my favorite. It’s rare that a post apocalyptic movie can have beauty.
I love Ponyo for the visuals.