I believe that Hayao Miyazaki is getting too old to animate. He keeps claiming that each animated feature he directs will be his last. Well, I hope he keeps his promise after his most recent film.
I saw the highly anticipated film "The Wind Rises" at the glorious Telluride Film Festival, and it saddens me to say this, but it's his worst film to date.
First and foremost, the artwork is the same - bland big eyes with two circular highlights, no lips and stiff walking cycles that have plagued him for over 30 years. This has become the trademark of animé. And if Miyazaki is such a genius, why doesn't he try some other ideas, freshen up his look? Experiment, perhaps.
Secondly, the story is minor and melodramatically maudlin. His previous film "Up on Poppy Hill" was equally minor and unexciting.
Thirdly, there are only a few sequences that are visually amazing. In fact, the whole film could have been told in live-action. It's my belief that animation is primarily a visual medium, and to have these straightforward soap opera dramas in animation, it kind of goes against the essence of animation.
Where is the glorious visual imagination that we witnessed in "Princess Mononoke", "My Neighbor Totoro" or "Spirited Away"?
And to top it off, the film is about the designers of the Japanese Zero and other WWII aircraft - the same planes that rained destruction on Nanking, the Philippines and Pearl Harbor. Why Miyazaki wants to glorify the exploits of the Japanese war machine is beyond me.
My favorite Miyazaki film is "Porco Rosso". In that film, he also glorified aviation. (His father, after all, was an aircraft engineer.) But, in that case, the flyers were more whimsical and romantic. They were more involved in early airplane races and not in the war in the Pacific.
In fact, "The Wind Rises" was so boring that my eyes wandered over to the lit "EXIT" sign in the theater, and I found that was more entertaining. I was praying for someone in front of me to pull out their phone and text their friends. That would have been more engaging than the stuff that was on the big screen.
I have to give Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises" a "D". But please, I invite you to see the film yourself, and if you disagree with me, please let me know and I'll reprint your rebuttal.
--Bill Plympton
Saw this in Japanese theaters. Didn`t think it was terrible, but also thought it could/should have used some "excitement." (If I did appreciate anything actually, it would be the subject matter. Controversial as it may be, it was neat to see a WWII movie from a different perspective. It`s not like the film said the Japanese and Nazi`s were good, just that there were people, uninterested in the war but still involved in some way, with an interesting story of their own to tell.)
ReplyDeleteBTW- "Up on Poppy Hill" was directed by Miyazaki`s son. "Hayao Miyazaki"`s last film before "The Wind Rises" was "Ponyo."
Up from poppy hill is a movie made by his son,he only co wrote the script.
ReplyDeleteI find funny that you claim why he doesn´t try another ideas when you have been making the same shitty skechy animation for more than 30 years with the same slappstick humor.
And yes animation is a visual medium so what,the earthquake scene wasnt enough o what the hell do you want- "he´s trying another stuff and you ask him to try the same shit as mononoke and spirited so for pity sake learn how to write you are freaking 60 years old or so.
Im probably asking too much, but what can i expect from a tryhard like yourself ,keep living in obscurity prick
Ps: I know my english sucks
Sorry Bill, but Up on Poppy Hill is by Goro Miyazaki, not Hayao.
ReplyDeletei saw this movie tonight. i found this page because i googled "the wind rises" and "so boring". i was so bored! i knew the movie was a biopic of sorts and would be a little boring but i thought the movie would make up for it in jiro's dreams. but omg this movie was so boring!! no excitement. no humor. some sweet moments but what was the point of it being animated? thank god i didnt pay for it.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine once told me that she played video games for the social interaction with other people. She didn't play 1 player games because if she was going to do something for the story, then she might as well read a book and have the same experience.
ReplyDeleteI know this sounds random, but I have a point to it. You say "The Wind Rises" could have been told as a live-action film. You're right, it could have been. But so can almost every story. With that kind of argument, why are films even made in the first place? I might as well just experience life. This film is not about the medium, it is about story. It just happens to be animated.
I think the story in The Wind Rises is amazing and I think you misunderstood many aspects of it. Miyazaki is not glorifying the war, but quite the opposite. What he talks about is Jiro's pure dream of making a beautiful aircraft, something that the other designers and engineers also wish to do. The film takes place in Japan, so of course things like the relationship between the Japanese and the Germans are going to be shown as "everything is sunshine and daisies, yay". But, did you not feel the tension every time the German character was on screen? The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end…. Maybe it’s just because he was kind of creepy…?
This film has so many sweet moments that "distract" from the main point. I think this is done on purpose. This film is about war, but you don't see any fighting. This makes it relate-able to the average person who, like me, has lived through war but never experienced it. When the war in Iraq was going on, I was going to school, having fun with friends, not thinking that across the sea thousands of people were dying.
The film's end is so incredibly sad. The thing that makes it sadder is that it is something that anyone, no matter what country, can understand. Jiro wanted to make beautiful planes, but now they are going to be used to kill and bring terror to people. This is exactly how the creators of the atomic bomb felt. This is exactly how scientists working at NASA felt. They knew they were creating this technology that eventually was going to be used to kill people, but what they really wanted to do was to learn more.
I think the film couldn't have come out at a better time, when war seems to be at the doorstep of every home. I think people, especially those in power, need to think more about the ethical and moral implications of what they are doing and I think this film tries to touch on that.
I'm sorry you found this film so boring, but I have to disagree with your review. I think this film has a deeper meaning that goes beyond the visual and I think that shows amazing storytelling.
republishing this.
DeleteSo your friend believed consuming a story is the focus of single player games? Not in the vast majority ever made, so I don't think that analogy works.
Deletebravo yestoyellow!
ReplyDeleteBoring so boring! Gone are Miyazaki's days when he produced riveting animations like Mononoke Hime, Laputa and Nausicaa! Those pulled at the heartstrings, those had impact! Yeh totally agree with you, it was painfully slow in places and ended up feeling very linear to me. I didn't even feel attached to the main character. Just my opinion. Now I must re watch Mononoke Hime to forget this drag...
ReplyDeleteI had put off seeing this movie because of your review Bill, and now that I've seen it I kind of wish I hadn't. If "The Wind Rises" is his last film it's such a bad note to go off on. It made me wish he had quit after "Ponyo" as it was his most visually unique film and very uplifting and inspiring. "The Wind Rises" was just a drag to watch. And I love many animated films with sad stories like "The Plague Dogs (1982)", "When The Wind Blows" (1986), and The Illusionist (2010). The reason why "The Wind Rises" fails is because of a lack of meaningful character interaction. The brief moments Jiro has with his sick wife dont make up for all the scenes of him sitting in cars, sitting in boats, sitting in planes, sitting in trains, sitting in homes, sitting at drafting tables. The movie left me feeling old and tired.
ReplyDeleteThis is really late in the game i acknowledge, but i need to say this:
ReplyDeleteI feel like this is far from "his last great masterpiece". The story was dull, and even the dream sequences that had his flair, his distinct feel, felt sub par, kinda phoned in even. Don't get me wrong, i love history and i love learning about it, but this story is a highly romanticized version of a mans life that goes nowhere. Theres no real ultimate goal, no rising action, no conflict, no climax, nothing. It just kinda wanders aimlessly for 2 hours then stops. Jiro is presented as an emotionless blank slate in my opinion, and thats not what makes an interesting protagonist. The only real "problem" that arises seems to be that his wife has a terminal illness (which btw, didn't happen to the real Jiro, she lived. So now it makes that a pointless plot thread doesn't it?) and the threat of losing a plane design deal. Overall it feels like this was a kind of phoned in pet project by Miyazaki, nothing wrong with that, but it feels kind of like a let down. I'd give the film a C+ just based on the beauty of the animation and the dream sequences.
This is really late in the game i acknowledge, but i need to say this:
ReplyDeleteI feel like this is far from "his last great masterpiece". The story was dull, and even the dream sequences that had his flair, his distinct feel, felt sub par, kinda phoned in even. Don't get me wrong, i love history and i love learning about it, but this story is a highly romanticized version of a mans life that goes nowhere. Theres no real ultimate goal, no rising action, no conflict, no climax, nothing. It just kinda wanders aimlessly for 2 hours then stops. Jiro is presented as an emotionless blank slate in my opinion, and thats not what makes an interesting protagonist. The only real "problem" that arises seems to be that his wife has a terminal illness (which btw, didn't happen to the real Jiro, she lived. So now it makes that a pointless plot thread doesn't it?) and the threat of losing a plane design deal. Overall it feels like this was a kind of phoned in pet project by Miyazaki, nothing wrong with that, but it feels kind of like a let down. I'd give the film a C+ just based on the beauty of the animation and the dream sequences.