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140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

The first of a new series, Miyazaki March Mondays. I haven’t seen all of his works, but I’m still going to say this is his best achievement.

宮崎月月曜日、新シリーズの最初の。私は彼の作品のすべてを見ていないが、私はまだ、これは彼の最高の成果であると言うつもりです。

Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Wind Rises:

Hayao Miyazaki has announced his retirement. The Wind Rises reportedly will be his last film. (Or is it? There are now reports he is or has rescinded his retirement. Evidently this is something he has done a number of times.) Apparently he was saving the best for last; we should all be so fortunate to go out on top.

Now, I’m late to the Miyazaki party; I’ve only seen a few of his films so far, which is partly why I’m going to dedicate Mondays in the month of March to reviewing some of his classics. (The other reason is that my daughter is an enormous fan.) So, since I’ve only seen a couple of his movies, is it really fair to declare The Wind Rises his best? Yes. Yes it is. Because The Wind Rises is possibly the greatest hand-animated film ever made. I’m not really comparing it with his other films; I’m comparing it (favorably) to ever other animated film of all time.

This was the first of his films I’ve seen on the big screen, and that possibly leads me to have a greater impression of the grandeur and vastness of his scenes than I would at home. But I don’t think so. The sweeping vistas and clarity of screen composition is something I’ve been drawn to in each of his films.

In fact, the striking visuals of his movies may distract from his other talents as a filmmaker. What it most characteristic of Miyazaki films in my mind is not the visual style, it’s the narrative style. The pacing is truly unique. These stories breathe and shift; they are allowed time to develop. I often speak of pacing in my reviews; I consider pacing to be one of the most important elements in the success or failure of a film. And the unhurried narrative in Miyazaki’s films, and The Wind Rises in particular, provides a welcome respite from the breakneck speed of most films (especially animated ones). That’s not to say that they can’t become a bit slow, and the less engaging stories can drag on, but when you’ve got a good tale, it’s refreshing to be afforded the time and opportunity to let it find its own rhythm.

Miyazaki seems to have a sense of wonder about the world that leads to this style of filmmaking. In The Wind Rises, this view is personified in the main character, Jiro Horikoshi, whose childish fascination with flight seems undimmed throughout years of often fruitless striving for aeronautic success. Through setbacks and struggle, Jiro never seems to lose this sense of wonder or shed his genial outlook.

Horikoshi makes for a wonderful protagonist because of his talents but especially because of his single-minded love of flight. He is a brilliantly human character, as well; full of flaws that give the story depth. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a natural for the part; his voice is quite fitting. In fact, none of the celebrity voices really distract, although I still greatly prefer to watch a film in the language in which it was filmed.

For my money, though, the success of this film is largely attributable to the story. I have long maintained that many artists do their best work when they work within the constraints of someone else’s input; film adaptations are our culture’s variations on a theme. There is something about having source material to inform the work that beautifully focuses gifted filmmakers.

The Wind Rises is a perfect example. This is the first time (to my knowledge) that Miyazaki has based his work on a real person. Jiro Horikoshi’s life was first chronicled in Tatsuo Hori’s short novel “The Wind Has Risen”, written in 1936–1937, then turned into a manga by Miyazaki in 2009. While the story of Horikoshi’s personal life appears to be largely fictionalized, his legacy as an engineer follows the historical record, and Miyazaki wisely takes as his cue a quote from Jiro Horikoshi: “All I wanted to do was to make something beautiful.”

This last point is hugely important, as audiences, not exclusively but certainly American audiences, may have trouble with a major concept here: Horikoshi’s work directly led to the planes that bombed Pearl Harbor. It’s not a minor consideration, and Miyazaki doesn’t treat it as one. The entire film is predicated on the idea that these men of science struggle with the reality of their creations. The engineers are all too aware of the military ends to which their inventions will be used; it is a constant theme that haunts Horikoshi and his colleagues. The subject is treated with respect and never sugarcoats reality.

The Wind Rises is an absolute triumph; it is among the greatest animated films ever made. Please take the opportunity to see it in theaters if you can.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: B (10 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

Main Cast	Joseph Gordon-Levitt Jirô Horikoshi (voice: English version), John Krasinski Honjô (voice: English version), Emily Blunt Nahoko Satomi (voice: English version), Martin Short Kurokawa (voice: English version)
Rating	PG-13
Release Date	Sat 20 Jul 2013 UTC
Director	Hayao Miyazaki
Genres	Animation, Biography, Drama, History, Romance, War
Plot	A look at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II.
Poster
Runtime	126
Tagline	Ikineba. (We must live.)
Writers	Hayao Miyazaki (comic), Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)
Year	2013